NPG (National Portrait Gallery)

Our visit to the national portrait gallery was an amazing museum experience that only a city like DC could offer, but about halfway through, I was struck by a very depressing thought. I was strolling down a hallway, pausing to admire the likenesses of some of America's greatest citizens, and I came across a face I was totally unfamiliar with. There, among all the portraits of greats such as Washington, MLK, and Benjamin Franklin, was a man that I have never heard of (I still can not recall his name). Now, I don't pretend to be an American history expert, but I consider myself very well informed about our nation's history. If his portrait was among such wonderful, famous people, he must have done something noteworthy, but despite that, I had no idea who he was. And I thought to myself, If this guy (whoever he may be), who must have done something incredible to warrant his face being near the face of Stonewall Jackson or George Washington Carver, is unknown to me, then what is the probability that I will do anything worth remembering in my lifetime? Not that I'm looking for fame or fortune, mind you, I just want to do great things with my life that would have the side effect of people knowing who I am. Well, needless to say, that depressed me a bit, but I walked around a bit more, found a ridiculous portrait of John Brown that makes him look like an absolute lunatic, and realized that gaining recognition on the scale of having your portrait in a national museum is great, but unnecessary. As long as you are pleased with what you've accomplished, having your picture up is just a perk.