Your Immortality Project
An immortality project coined and described by Ernest Becker in his book, The Denial of Death, refers to a fear-of-death coping method in which people build something that will last beyond their death. An immortality project could include many things, such as a cultural, artistic, or religious legacy. Authorship often takes the role of an immortality project since thoughts, feelings, ideas, and values become preserved in a lasting form for generations. Writing immortality projects also provide life with meaning and purpose. Writing as an immortality project is not a new idea. Many seek to preserve something of themselves, which raises doubts about the authenticity of the immortality project. Authorship as an immortality project raises ethical and existential questions concerning whether this writing accurately represents the writer or forms a deception, such as an exercise in ego to preserve themselves in a positive light. More pragmatic views of the immortality project include the relevance of such writing in the future, evidenced by the many texts lining library shelves, essentially forgotten.
How Our Writings Lead to Glory
Yeah, you betcha; writing will make famous for all time.
A new big-budget feature film will soon be moving into production (we call this “Greenlit” in the industry, just in case you didn’t know that).
This New Big Budget Feature Film will be based on my most popular novel. No, wait, based on MY life story. Yeah, a movie guaranteed to make me way more famous and way richer.
This new, big-budget feature film will star a handsome and beloved figure from the world of big-budget cinema. And is almost assured, no, make that ASSURED of garnering a bunch of Oscar nominations.
This is because it’s being directed by one of the most FAMOUS Directors working today. And it will have an amazing musical soundtrack that people will be humming for years to come, no, forever, they’ll be humming the soundtrack music accompanying the most touching scenes, forever, seriously, FOREVER.
Yep this is almost for sure about to happen any day now and I gotta be honest with you, I’m thrilled, THRILLED I tell you.
Thank you, Thank you all very much. Thank you so much.
THANKS!
But Wait! That’s not all, not ALL by a long shot: because what I also heard is that I am going to be given a brand new AWARD!! And HUGE HONOR!! of the highest magnitude by former President Donald J. Trump.
This AWARD!! Will include a HUGE check (both the $ amount and the oversized size of the check itself, like one of those big publisher clearinghouse type checks, only much BIGGER!! Being HUGE!!).
This AWARD!! Will be given to me despite my steadfast loathing of Trump and deep disagreements with all his policies.
Apparently, Trump has told aides, from what I’ve heard anyway, that, and I’ll quote here, “This Terry Trueman guy deserves this recognition for how neat and cool a dude he is and for how sexy he was, back when he was younger and before he became sensitive and caring about women’s feelings.”
That’s the quote I heard anyway. The exact quote, which is why I’m using what we call “quotation marks,” around Trump’s words.
Again, this is simply a thing I’ve heard but I feel pretty sure about it because President Trump and I, despite our differences in regard all political matters, are really kind of the same in terms of our relaxed and easy-going attitudes towards forgiving ourselves for our past conduct, or I should say, for “allegations,” of past conduct that probably isn’t even totally (partially) true, and/or for what lesser men consider our sins, etc.
Stay tuned to this site for updates on this exciting totally true story and feel free to follow my fabulous career: the movie, the wealth, all of it, etc.
In these final few moments (hopefully) of Trumpian madness, it’s become pretty clear that we can say whatever we want to say about ourselves and anyone else: There are no facts; There is no truth, and thus/therefore there are no lies.
Whatever you wish to think/feel/believe, go for it, for instance:
I am the most handsome 24-year-old guy alive and every woman wants me and I’m frequently compared to a young (say 23-year-old) Paul McCartney only I sing and write songs so much better than he ever could and I have way better hair.
I bench press 850 lbs or so. Or I would if I ever lifted anymore, but after all that Olympic Gold I won in Male Synchronized Swimming, I’m taking a few years off to finish my astronaut Mission Specialist Training (MST: Porn guy in space, I’ll let you fill in the blanks on that one (or simply read some old Newt Gingrich interviews.)
Damn, This being just like Trump (and Newt for that matter) is fun!
Please don’t get all hoity-toity with me and quote “facts” about stuff. I’m a stable genius and I don’t need you or anybody telling me shit I don’t want to hear just because it’s “true.”
I mean, who says it’s true? Who can tell anyone else what’s exactly true and what might not be so much, you know?
Not me, that’s for sure. So just S-U!
And thank you, thanks so much. Thanks.
What I heard...
In these times of so-called “Fake News” it can never hurt to start...I mean spread, rumors that make one look like a big deal.
What I heard is that I am going to be given a brand new AWARD and HONOR of the highest magnitude by former President Donald J. Trump, and that this AWARD!! will include a HUGE check (both the amount of $ and the oversized size of the check, like one of those big Publisher Clearing House type checks, only much BIGGER!!). This AWARD will be given to me despite my steadfast loathing of him and deep disagreements with all his policies. Apparently Trump has told aides and others that, and I'll quote here, “This Terry Trueman guy deserves This recognition for how neat and cool a dude he is and for how many women he got to have sex with back when he was younger and before he became sensitive and caring about women’s feelings about not being used just for sex and stuff.”
Again, this is simply something I’ve heard and that I feel pretty sure about because former President Trump and I, despite our differences in regards to a few political matters, are really kind of the same in terms of our relaxed and easy-going attitudes towards our past conduct and what lesser men might call “sins.”
Stay tuned to this site for updates on this exciting totally true story of being immortalized, and feel free to buy my books in multiple copies, etc.
What’re YOU Doing Here?
Goals for your lifetime
Making the days count and counting the days both ways, as in adding things one to another; counting tulips in a field, stars in the sky number of women loved over the course of my long lifetime — also ‘counting’ as in making my time here count, making my life mean something and matter. At 3ish a.m. last night/this morning
Reading Immortal Poems...
This ain’t a knee-slapper, but I hope it makes you both smile and think.
Reading immortal poems can only be done when, in your reading, you realize immortality is irrelevant. You read, “Do you think I know what I’m doing? That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?” And you pause and smile and know exactly what Rumi was asking 800 years ago. You also smiled When he wondered, “Where are we?” and answered his question with two more questions. Immortality doesn’t matter — Mortality does...His and yours and mine.The Paradox of Immortality
Building an immortality project reveals a paradox in some ways depending on how one defines immortality and what one values in life. Constructing an immortality project can waste precious time by distracting one from living in the present and enjoying life. This waste of time is similar with respect to thoughts of eternal life, which might be undesirable or impossible due to many issues like the volatility of economics that alters the quality of life, boredom, isolation, loss of identity, or ethical dilemmas that may arise. For instance, if you lived forever, what would motivate you to keep learning or bettering yourself?
These thoughts are as imaginative as they are absurd since no one has lived long enough to determine the success of an immortality project or lived eternally, allowing a full grasp of immortality issues. The problem with immortality is not the value of a project or the act of living forever but a lack of purpose in society.
Society exists to perpetuate life efficiently so survival becomes easier for everyone. However, this goal obscures in economics, religion, and many other beliefs, concealing the ultimate purpose: life. Immortality projects might be a noble and meaningful pursuit reflecting human curiosity, creativity, and aspiration to transcend the limitations of the human condition, but this overlooks the pragmatic goal of living longer, healthier, more fulfilling lives. While an immortality project might enrich life, nothing will enrich life more than living longer, happier lives resulting from a true immortality project.
Two Oddly Real, Very Brief, Poetic Statements Concerning Mortality
Blood Now Streaming Out of A sliced vein. So simple: Blood As a flower; Blood as a wailing; Blood As A Dream about Losing Love, Losing Your way, Losing Everything. Don’t tell me About “The dignity of man.” Tell Me About Blood. I Decided That I’d simply Live forever Which would give Me Plenty of time To write poems. If I lived Forever, There’d be No end To the poems I’d be able to Write. Somehow, Though, Some Small Part of the plan Seemed flawed. So I’m jotting Down a few poems Right now, Just in case, You know?
“Terry…? Trueman…?”
A shocking moment of dispiriting ignominy on my road to immortality and unforgettable greatness...
First, my friend Mary upon hearing my name some years earlier had told a mutual acquaintance, “I thought he was dead?” Some years later, now into her 90’s, when I finally reached out to her and told her my name, Mary rambled a little bit, incoherently (she’d been nearly deaf for a quarter century so I wasn’t sure about the origin of her confusion re: my phone call) but at the end she repeated my name, which I’d told her when she had first picked up the phone, speaking very hesitantly, she pondered, “Terry…?” Long pause … “Trueman…?” Another long pause, and I realized she had no idea who I was, not even her earlier guess that I was dead. For Mary, by this time, I hadn’t ever existed at all. And despite my knowledge about dementia and Alzheimer’s it still stung a little to be so fully forgotten by a friend I had so treasured and admired for so many decades. So much for my fast-track plan to immortality.
Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash
Copyright Vincent Triola & Terry Trueman
