The need to write a will has been bobbing about in the back of my mind for a while now, so when I read this article by Reid, it struck a chord. I had also been idly wondering what would happen to my online existence if my organic existence ended suddenly. I know that it sounds like a bit of a morbid topic (and don't worry — I have no particular reason to believe that I'm about to check out), but it is worth giving some thought to.

The hubby and I don't have a huge amount of material stuff to distribute, nor do we have children to worry about. We don't own a house and have few savings, so there's just the car, some IKEA furniture, hi-fi, computer, and a music collection. But the things we've created seem much more valuable and worth conserving. Mr. Bsag's paintings are fairly easy to deal with; I know where they are, and would have no difficulty in physically accessing them and making sure that they were safe. But what about my writing here? I've written 770 posts here to date, and while they are by no means all worth saving for posterity, taken together they do reflect me in some meaningful way. In fact, this collection of writing probably represents the essence of me and my interests and opinions better than anything else tangible. And then there's all the comments, forming a little community that I would hate to see disappear.

The problem is that with all the passwords, obscure URLs and technical challenges of accessing this material, the chances are that it would all just go quiet here, and when the hosting fees weren't paid, it would disappear. I think I might have to sort out a kind of 'load in case of emergencies' CD with instructions on accessing my WordPress installation, passwords and so on, and make sure that those close to me know where it is.