Quiet Clarity is a 1-2x/week newsletter for people who want to build a life of presence, depth, and deliberate intention.
We often believe we are immortal.
That we're different and our mark will last.
This feeling gets stronger when things go well. And especially when we want to prove ourselves.
Success comes, people know our name and we're building something big.
We think: surely, this will last.
But Marcus Aurelius reminds us of something hard.
In due time, we will be forgotten.
Not partially forgotten, but completely erased. As if we never walked this earth.
Marcus Aurelius doesn't tell us this to crush us.
I know it might feel that way reading this. But stay with me.
He tells us this to free us.
Because once you truly see this, everything shifts.
Your time becomes precious in a different way.
Not because it's limited, but because you finally see what's worth spending it on.
Run your daily choices through this lens and watch what happens:
That exhausting need to prove yourself to others? You'll be forgotten.
Those sleepless nights protecting your reputation? You'll be forgotten.
The performance, the posturing, the desperate scramble for approval? All forgotten.
That imagined legacy you're killing yourself to build? Dust.
Strange how clarifying this becomes, isn't it?
But here's where people stumble: "If nothing lasts, why do anything? Why not just give up? Or take whatever you want?"
That’s missing the gift Marcus is giving us.
He's not saying nothing matters.
He's saying we’ve been caring about the wrong things.
When we accept we’ll be forgotten, we don't stop living. We start living for real.
We focus on:
What feels true right now, not what might impress someone later
What we’re genuinely drawn to, not what we think we should want
What we’d do anyway, even if no one ever knew
The artist still paints—but now she paints because it brings her alive, not because she needs her name in galleries.
The builder still builds—but now he builds from love of the craft, not to leave monuments.
The parent still shows up—but now from presence, not from some frantic need to be remembered as "good."
You become more alive, not less. The performance ends and actual living begins.
"I'll be forgotten" isn't an excuse to do nothing.
It's a compass pointing to what's worth doing for its own sake.
But what does "for its own sake" actually look like in real life?
Yesterday, my mom sent me this video of someone doing "Top 5 phrases every Indian mom says."
Immediately, I got this urge to make one about my own mom.
Then the usual thoughts crept in: This will be cringe. They'll think I'm weird. This is so not me.
But underneath all that noise, something simpler was true: I wanted to do it. Just because.
So I said screw it and spent an hour recording myself doing her five greatest hits with a jacket on my head.
And I sent it to the family chat.
Everyone died laughing, except my brother, who said: "I'm cringing so hard right now."
No surprise there.
Will anyone remember this video in a hundred years? Of course not.
Will my brother still be cringing in a hundred years? Honestly, maybe.
But did it matter? Absolutely.
Because I did something purely from joy, not for any future reward.
And interestingly, it brought joy to everyone else around too.
although I will not be releasing the video, here’s a sneak peek
That's the paradox Marcus understood:
When you stop trying to matter forever, you finally matter right now.
The joy was in the making. The meaning was in the doing.
And this truth isn't just about creating silly videos. It's the same for spending time with loved ones. Learning something new. Helping someone who needs it.
These things matter not because they'll be remembered, but because they're true to who you are.
I find this filter to help find the things to really focus on.
And when all is going exceptionally well, I remind myself, I will be forgotten.
It's a good check to make sure you never let your ego, greed, pride take you over and consume you.
When the world is telling you you're special, when success is whispering that you're different, Marcus is there to remind you: you too will be dust.
And that's okay. Actually, it's more than okay.
It's freeing.
Because once you accept you'll be forgotten, you can finally focus on what really matters: living true to yourself in the time you have.
And here's the paradox that still surprises me.
When I stopped trying to matter forever, when I stopped thinking I was all important - that's when life actually gave me what I was searching for all along.
From Amma’s Hand
From Nanna’s Voice
