Have you heard of an ‘ethical will?’ Well I’m gonna tell you about it. For most people, the last thing you ever really say is your will. You write out what material thing goes to what heir. It’s a legal document often executed by a disinterested probate attorney. As if our life comes down to what furniture we’ve collected. The ‘ethical will’ brings soul into the equation. Brings you. The idea is that you write your values, your beliefs, what you know to be true, to be passed on to your loved ones when you’re gone. This feels like an obvious tradition we should bake into our society. As a writer I cherish that I do this as a job. I write my mind down constantly. Even if I were to go tomorrow, my mind is pretty much floating on paper. Enough for my nieces to know something significant of their uncle. I can’t encourage you enough to take the time to transcribe your mind. In morning pages. In blog posts. In a journal. In a manuscript. And every decade or so, sit down and write an ethical will. Not only will you give the gift of your mind to those that love you, but you might find out for the first time what you really believe. A lot of us do not know the answer to a question unless we are directly asked. So ask yourself. What do I know is true? I interviewed Rabbi @steve_leder about his new book ‘For You When I am Gone’ in my new episode of #QuestiontheSelf. He dives deep into ethical wills, a life well lived, and how to write one. The book asks you 12 questions and in answering them, boom, you’ve written an ethical will. I read this book in a day and ordered five copies before I’d finished it. It’s a book like that.