Memories as enrichment

I've been reading a book called Staying Connected: How to Continue Your Relationships with Those Who Have Died. It's a collection of speeches given by Rudolf Steiner just about a hundred years ago, most of them dated 1914 and 1915.

Rudolf Steiner was a big deal in the spiritualist movements at the time. He founded the (still-existing) General Anthroposophical Society, "an association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world." He was also the founder of Waldorf Schools. And he had a bit of an ego, judging from the tone of his writings.

I've read a lot of books about dying, death, and life after death in the fifteen months since Sandy died. I want to know what she's experiencing, and to understand my own experiences. Some of this is just that I want to not feel crazy. But more, I've realized just how little I know about the biggest questions in life, and I'm hungry for as much information as I can glean. So I read it all, embracing the bits that feel like they fit what I've personally seen so far, and always skeptical of anyone who claims to know exactly what happens and how the afterlife is organized.

I'm reading Steiner with several grains of salt. He's way too sure of himself, without offering any indication of how he came to his enlightenment. But there are some ideas that please me, whether they're true or not.

She wanted to be remembered. And I can't help thinking about
her, even if I wanted to. So how great would it be if my
memories and those of others who love her bring beauty, too?

In particular, he talks about the effect of our memories on the dead. He compares it to art and beauty in our own physical world. We don't need art and beauty to survive, but they enhance our lives and give them additional meaning. Likewise, he says that those who are between death and rebirth do not require our memories to survive, but when we remember them, we add beauty to their existence.

I have no way of knowing whether Steiner's assertion is accurate. But I love the idea that our memories of those we've loved and lost not only bring us joy and comfort, but also enrich the experience of those we're remembering. I'm a sucker for a win/win scenario, and this is a sweet one.