Defying Time: Jennifer Engel on Digital Preservation, Legacy, and the Power of Words

In today’s digital world, where content is often fleeting and measured in clicks and likes, the idea of digital preservation takes on a much deeper meaning. For some, it’s about keeping memories alive. For Jennifer Engel, it’s about leaving behind something that truly lasts—words, wisdom, and a presence that can transcend time.

Jennifer Engel is no stranger to life’s challenges. Born with spina bifida, she has faced self-doubt, learning difficulties, and turbulent relationships, yet she emerged stronger with a passion for writing and helping others. A ten-year cancer survivor, she is now in hospice, but her journey of inspiration is far from over. Through her books, Heaven Under Construction and Highest Possibility States, and her online presence on YouTube (Inspire and Illuminate) and TikTok (@highestpossibilitystates), Jennifer is building a bridge between past, present, and future—a digital legacy that will continue to touch lives long after she’s gone.

Today, we’ll be talking with Jennifer about the value of digital preservation—not just as a means of archiving memories, but as a way of defying time itself. How can our voices, thoughts, and experiences remain present for those we love, even after we are no longer physically here? Let’s explore this profound and deeply personal topic with Jennifer.

The Importance of Digital Preservation

Q1. Jennifer, thank you for joining us today. Before we dive into digital preservation, could you share a little about your journey as a writer? What inspired you to put your thoughts into words?

JE: Here’s my journey as a writer. What’s ironic about my writing journey is that I really struggled with writing in high school. I’d get Ds and Fs in English class, with the exception of one writing assignment: “What is the Meaning of Life?” In which I basically said, “I was too young to understand such a deep
concept. Come back and ask me in thirty years.” Well, here we are thirty years later. I didn’t discover the true meaning of life, until I was faced with a terminal illness.

As you stated I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer back in 2014. I opened a blog on caringbridge.org. First as a way to communicate with people on how I was doing so that I wouldn’t have to repeat my story over and over again. But this blog also gave me a way to
process the harrowing experiences I was having :being diagnosed, going through twenty-one rounds of intense chemotherapy, losing everything I thought made me who I was (my hair, my beauty, half of my sexual experience) and thirty days of radiation. I continued to write on how I
was doing during the recovery process.

So many people began to tell me that my writing was the first thing they’d read when they woke up in the morning. And while they were not going through cancer, my words were helping them with their own struggles.

One of my morning practices is to listen to podcasts on self-help and spirituality. I know how much other people’s words and stories and perspectives, of how to get through difficult times helped me. So, I write to just keep passing forward the information. Even if it helps just one person, it’s worth it.

Q2. The idea of preserving stories digitally seems to stem from deeply personal experiences for you. Can you talk about the moment when you realized just how important it was to save a person’s work, their essence, in a digital form?

JE: The moment I realized how important it is to save a person’s work. I don’t think there was just one moment where I realized just how important it is to save a person’s work. I think it came in the form of puzzle pieces.

The first puzzle piece came when I heard stories of parents who were diagnosed with a terminal illness. Youtube and Tik-Tok weren’t invented yet. Still these parents created video tapes to leave behind for their children so that they could still have some sort of access to their parents.

The second and third puzzle piece came from being a part of a writer’s group. When one of our members passed away, we lost his story. A pure and innocent story about how he met and fell in love with his wife. With his passing it was lost forever, and it really broke my heart.

The fourth puzzle piece came three years ago when my husband lost his mother. It wasn’t until she passed that he realized he didn’t have a video of her. He’d never be able to hear her voice again.

The final puzzle piece was directly related to being diagnosed with cancer. In 2014 I mostly wrote just to keep people updated on how I was doing as well as a way to process what I was
going through. But the cancer just kept coming back. Finally in November of 2024 I asked to be put into hospice. That is when I really started taking the idea of preserving, not just my work, but parts of my personality online. Not just to have current friends and family members have access to it now, but also for future family members I’ll never have the opportunity to meet.

You put it so well in our own personal letter exchanges, “There is something profoundly beautiful about the idea of a living digital tree. A bridge between generations where our voices, thoughts, and emotions remain accessible, rather than fading into obscurity. I think of old family photographs. How we stare into the eyes of relatives, who lived long before us, and wonder what they were like. Perhaps if they had left behind videos and had recorded their stories, they would have opened a door into the essence of who they were. And by doing this they would also create a bridge between generations where voices, thoughts, and emotions remain accessible, rather than fading into obscurity.”

Q4. What does digital preservation mean to you on an emotional level? Do you see it as a way to keep connecting with your loved ones even after you’re gone?

JE: I think to answer this question, I first have to ask myself, “how has other people’s digital content shaped the way I approach my own digital legacy?” As human beings we learn by watching and imitating other human beings. As I stated earlier, one of my morning practices is to access other people’s digital content. This is one way I’ve learned how to get through my own difficulties in life, as well as simply accessing content for its entertainment value. I guess you could say I feel the need to pass the favor forward. Share my own tips and strategies for how I’ve gotten through life’s difficulties as well as share a few laughs along the way as well.

In addition, if family or friends have questions they want to ask me, but they can not because I have passed on, they can still have access to answers I’d give by going to the digital content I have created and find how I would approach their questions.

We live in such a strange and wonderful time where when someone is physically gone from this earth, if they leave a digital legacy behind, they can still be accessed. So in some aspects, it’s more like they just moved away, rather than are totally absent. And as you have brought up, more than once in our personal correspondences, it’s the first time where one is able to defy
space and time. Not only can we access someone in their current state and time, but we can access a person’s thoughts and their own evolution over time, which defies space-time boundaries, and that’s pretty incredible.

Q5. Many people document their lives online, but often with a focus on gaining attention rather than truly preserving something meaningful. How do you differentiate between digital noise and a true digital legacy?

JE: That’s a good question. I think it is up to the person accessing digital content to define what is just noise to them vs. what leaves an impact upon their mind and heart, which may even cause a change in that person’s behavior or way of thinking. And what leaves an impact upon each person will consistently change over time as the culture and people change over time as well.

Q6. Your books and online presence are filled with deep insights and personal reflections. If someone were to discover your work decades from now, what would you hope they take away from it?

JE: I think my answer would be the same thing I addressed in question one where I discussed my journey as a writer. Just as other people’s insights and deep reflections on the world has helped me get through very difficult times and also send a signal across time that I am not alone, I hope my words do the same. Let people know that difficult times are just that – times. And time passes. But so many people get stuck in time, and I hope my words help them move forward.

In addition, I always end my on-line talks with some version of the following line, “and my wish is that you also use your own stories, your own insights, your own reflections to first help yourself and then others, because now more than ever the world needs those and they need you.”

What I am trying to get across when I tell this to my audience is that everyone’s insights and experiences and reflections are valuable, not just my own words, and so I hope I am showing them how to find value inside of themselves as well.

This post is part of the Bookish League blog hop hosted by Bohemian Bibliophile.

Q7. How do you envision your children and future family members engaging with your digital presence? Is there something specific you hope they revisit or learn from?

JE: This question actually made me stop and think. At first I was going to say that I answered some of this when discussing the answer to question two when I realized the importance of preserving digital content in my answer, “the final moment I realized the importance of preserving my work. Not just for myself or to get followers or likes, but for my now children to have access to my thoughts and dwellings on life long after I’m gone. And not just for them, but for other family members and future family members that aren’t even born yet.”

But what I may actually do, thanks to you and this interview, is create content that expresses more of my personality rather than just my reflections and insights about the world. I love to read stories, I love to sing songs. In addition to being a writer, I am a teacher and a mother. So, thank you. I think this new content will be a way for me to be with my children, and perhaps their children, even when I am no longer here. It will be a way for them to go back and hear me sing in the car or share the lullabies with their own children that I used to sing to them. Not for likes, not because I’m a great singer, I am not, but for holding onto and still being able to access someone’s true personality, not just their social-media “likes” or highlight reel.

Q8. In your experience, what are the best ways for someone to start preserving their stories, thoughts, or wisdom digitally? Are there any platforms or tools you find particularly meaningful?

JE: This is a very good question as well as a very personal one. I think the best way for someone to start preserving their stories is in as natural a way as possible for them. As Simon Sinek popularized in his TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” one should think about what their why is for preserving their social media content. Is it to stay in touch with family and friends and foster relationships and a sense of community? Is it to simply communicate their own thoughts and interests? Is it to gain approval and feedback from others? Is it to support a cause and advocate for others? Is it to be entertaining?

Then after the why are they sharing their content, people should think about what they want to get out of sharing their content: is it emotional engagement? Is it to persuade others? Is it to build up or break down social norms?

Let’s be honest, most people just share or create content without even thinking, but thinking about their content could be a great first step. Once people know why they are creating content and what they want their audience, as well as themselves to get out of the experience, then it will be easier to find a platform to share the content upon. There are also generational platforms to consider as well.

For example most young people think only “old people” use Facebook, while
gamers and young people use Tik-Tok and Discord. This doesn’t have to be the case though, I think the questions should drive what platform is used. In addition, most people don’t just use one platform, but multiple so that their content can reach more audiences. Let’s take a look at some popular platforms as well as what they might most be used for according to current top tend trends for 2025 as well as define the terminology as to what they are used for:

Terms:

Visual content (photographs and other art or illustrations)

Video content (any short or long moving visual content created digitally)

Tutorials (an explanation or “how to” of content or tasks)

Professional (content related to what one gets paid to do for a living or side hustle)

Personal (content related to enhance connections with others)

News and/or real-time updates (noteworthy information about current events, topics or trends.)

Articles ( a piece of writing regarding a specific topic)

Platforms and their uses:

Facebook (3.07 billion users) – mostly used for personal reasons

Youtube (2.5 billion users) – mostly used for longer video content for personal or professional
reasons; although, Youtube has also picked up on the short-video reel trend.

Instagram (2 billion users) – mostly used for visual content and short video content (Instagram
reels)

Tik-Tok (over 2 billion users) – mostly used for short video content for personal or professional
reasons; although longer videos can be posted, but most users won’t watch all the way though.

Linked in (over 1 billion users) – mostly used for professional reasons.

Pinterest (about 520 million users) – mostly used for visual content

X {formally Twitter}(around 300-640 million users) – mostly used for news and real-time
updates.

Twitch (2.5 – 35 million users) – mostly used for gaming, esports, and other creative content.

Genealogy sites (myheritage, beenverified, myanscestroy,etc…) mostly used to access to millions
and billions of historical records for personal and professional use.

Personal Web-sites: (see analytics page for how many access your personal page) – mostly used
for personal and professional content.

Other real-time communication platforms that have the ability to save content to be accessed at a later date: Discord, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.

One last thought: Any user can also track data specifically for the platform they are using through the platforms’s analytics page. Each page usually has information such as: how many people accessed the content, how long their audience engaged with the content, what times their audience most likely accessed their content and on what days, what content was most popular and with who (age, gender, location)

Q9. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about digital preservation?

JE: I don’t think people really have misconceptions. I think they each have their own purposes for using it as discussed in my answer to question eight. What I do think is that many don’t think about how it can be used, not just to entertain, persuade or keep others informed about their own personal or professional uses for it, but also as a way to defy time and space by keeping in contact with those who have departed. For the first time in history we can have access, not just to faded photos, but people’s thoughts, mannerisms, and voices long after they are gone. And not just from one snap-shot in time, but also access to that
person’s own evolution over time as well.

Q10. Your journey is one of resilience, transformation, and deep introspection. If you could leave behind one final message—something that would be remembered for generations—what would it be?

JE: I think two others said things a lot better than I can. Mahatma Gandhi said, “if you want change in the world, change yourself.” And Lao Tzu said, “if you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest fit you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” So many people
think the solution to their suffering is outside of themselves. Resilience, transformation, and introspection
all comes from within – that is where all the answers to any question one may have lies. Clear the rocks and blocks away from your emotions, give your subconscious soil what it needs to fertilize fantasies of a better future by taking lessons from the past and using it as nutrients of what to do, instead of what not to do, then let go and just watch the process unfold. There is nothing you need to do once you have prepared the garden of your own mind and emotions. It will all just happen naturally.

Q11. As someone who has faced life’s greatest uncertainties with courage and reflection, how has your perspective on life and death evolved over time? What wisdom would you share with those who fear the unknown?

JE: When I was younger, I used to live outside in, meaning that I allowed the outside world to control my inner world. I allowed negative voices and thoughts to seep into the secret subconscious garden of my mind. What I learned from a wide variety of spiritual and practical teachings is that nothing can really hurt me unless I give it permission. So many times people use their past to pull themselves down and keep themselves prisoner within their own negative thoughts and emotions. The first thing people need to do is forgive themselves and others and move on.

Now, in my experience, this doesn’t usually happen overnight. The mind is a lot like a junk drawer and our emotions are the things we store in it. Like a junk drawer, a closet, a garage, a
shed, an attic, or even a whole house, many people spend their lives accumulating things (thoughts) and storing them away into some crammed corner, never to really look or deal with
those things again. One day, however, the drawer won’t close, the door won’t shut, the table or the space simply can’t hold anymore stuff, and something has to be done. And if a corner is left alone long enough, creepy crawly critters can find their own comfort there, settle down, make a nest, and begin to multiply. I used to see taking on these creatures of the mind as a battle to be
won; yet the more I fought, the stronger they grew and the more they multiplied. The movie Rise the Guardians taught me that these varmints were simply mythical monsters that I created within my own mind, and just as easily as I created them into dark shadows that would follow me around and haunt me, so too could I just as easily stand before them and transform them into beings of light that would support and uplift me. That is the magical mind. It is the ability to flip the subconscious scripts from lower states into higher ones. I heard from the Universe during one of my meditations, “I’m not random and chaotic. You are. So what chaos can I help you put in
order today?”

While most people take a shower and brush their teeth daily, many don’t think about taking time to go into their minds and emotions and cleaning those out daily, yet that is what we need to do.

If we don’t take time to think about these things, just like our bodies and teeth, our minds and emotions can become dirty, useless, and even harmful. Therefore, we need to take time to open up our shed and see what’s inside. This can be done all at once through retreating from the world
for a while similar to taking on a huge remodeling project, or it can be done a little at a time each day – similar to taking a shower or brushing one’s teeth. We have a choice. We can make our thoughts and habits easy and efficient and serve our Highest Possibility States, or we can make
those thoughts and habits difficult, dirty, and overwhelming, which keeps us in Lower Possibility States. The choice is ours. So the long answer to the question, “what would I tell people who are afraid of the unknown?” Take some time each day to do your mental and emotional toothbrushing and the unknown won’t be so scary. It can be as clean and organized and functional and beautiful as you can imagine it to be, with just a little work each day.

Q12. If death is often seen as an ending, do you see it differently? Do you believe that the essence of who we are—our words, our impact, our love—continues in ways beyond just memory?

JE: In spiritual circles there is a theory that thoughts and memories once made are stored in an Akashic Field or Book of Life, and while there is no scientific proof of this, what I do know is that in science there are bits of sound and digital information floating though the air on electro-magnetic currents all the time that we can’t see. Yet, if we have the right equipment and are tuned into the same frequency, they can be accessed.

In my twenties, I had dreams I was other people from other cultures, and even presented myself as a different gender. When I was in meditation in my thirties, I could almost see and feel myself as a kelp or a hawk. In my imagination, and through dreams… as long as I can remember, I could access different worlds and experiences. When I meet certain people, or hear certain songs, or have certain experiences, I feel as though I have known or had them before. Where do these thoughts and experiences come from, if not from place beyond this specific place and time? I do believe that once something is created, it can never be destroyed. It lies safe within some electro-magnetic wave, or waves, that we carry inside of ourselves. And as science tells us, energy can not be destroyed, just transferred. So I believe, even before we pass, we have shared
and stored some of these memories and words in the mind and hearts of others. And when we finally do pass, we also carry those same electro-magnetic waves with us.

Now I do believe that God, the Universe, whatever you want to call it, in its infinite intelligence, gives us the gift of the vail – of forgetting, especially the painful stuff. Because if we knew what we were in for, we’d never do it. But as I alluded to in previous answers, it is the pain of the past that produces the fertilizer for the future, it is the darkness we experience that gives such depth to life and an appreciation for all the goodness and beauty that can be found in it as well.

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Closing Statement

Jennifer, your journey, your words, and your perspective on digital preservation offer a profound reminder that our existence is not just measured by the time we spend on this earth, but by the imprint we leave behind. Through your writing, your videos, and your unwavering spirit, you are crafting a legacy that will continue to inspire and illuminate lives for generations to come.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, your experiences, and your heart with us today. Your perspective on life, death, and the power of preserving our essence beyond time is a gift—one that encourages us all to think more deeply about what we leave behind.

As we close, I’d like to ask: Is there anything you’d like to say to those who are still searching for their own way to be remembered? What final message would you like to leave with us today?

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