Memento Mori
Death is the one thing that you can not escape in this world. You have been dying ever since you were born, and every day that passes brings you closer to that finality. Rather scary to consider. But don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
Depressing? Nah. This could be the best thing to happen to you today. Keep reading...
Stoicism fits so well with my sensibilities. It is something that I have taken a profound interest in and enjoy. In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wrote, “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” It may sound familiar “Stay in the present. Don’t dwell on the past or the future. Live one day at a time, Just for today, 24 Hours, etc.” These concepts are certainly appreciated, but “Memento Mori” seems to give each day a real sense of urgency. Maybe it will provide you with that same feeling it gave me. And all the skulls and dark imagery!! Who doesn’t love a good skull?
Obligatory Wikipedia Copy and Paste
Memento mori (Latin for ‘remember that you [have to] die’ [2]) is an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death.[2] The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards.
Memento mori is represented visually by three essentials of existence: the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time)
(Philippe de Champaigne’s Vanitas (c. 1671) is reduced to three essentials: Life, Death, and Time)
Seneca said it well in a letter to Paulinus:
“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested. But when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing. So it is—the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it.
[…]
I cannot doubt the truth of that utterance which the greatest of poets delivered with all the seeming of an oracle: “The part of life we really live is small.” For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time. Vices beset us and surround us on every side, and they do not permit us to rise anew and lift up our eyes for the discernment of truth, but they keep us down when once they have overwhelmed us and we are chained to lust. Their victims are never allowed to return to their true selves; if ever they chance to find some release, like the waters of the deep sea which continue to heave even after the storm is past, they are tossed about and no rest from their lusts abides.”
Now you know that “the end is nigh!”
You have a limited time to get to the things you have been waiting to do. One of those things for me was writing this post. I have received so much inspiration from the knowledge that I could die at any moment. This “Memento Mori” idea has helped me capitalize on each day and live every one with much more purpose.
Seneca was right. We get enough time, but we seem to waste so much of it. Stoics used the idea of “Memento Mori” to help remember that you have to die, which is part of the natural process of life. You may “regret” the past, which can lead to many feelings of hopelessness. Hopefully, the concept of memento mori and this post will change some of that. Let’s take a deeper look at how we might use this information to reframe these thoughts.
Add it up
One tool that can be beneficial is looking at the bigger picture visually. The button below contains a link to a google XLSX document that will help you visualize how much time you might have left, but remember, any day could be the day. Open the link and follow the basic instructions below:
Click inside the field that corresponds to - A1
Change the date “7/1/2022” (MM/DD/YYYY) and hit return; you will see the boxes fill in.
Print this document and put it up somewhere you will see it.
Update every so often as a reminder (Death is coming for you!)
Memento Mori Document
These boxes represent the average human life (70 years old). You may live longer or shorter, but the idea is to get a visual of the potential for “The rest of your life.” Each box represents a week of your life; after you have filled in your birthday and hit return, you will see the weeks you have already given to death. The rest of the unfilled boxes are what you have left (potentially). This visual can motivate or devastate you, but your choice is ultimately how you respond to this information.
Choosing to see it differently
Choose to see it as motivation. Choose to let it sink in and look at those empty boxes on what you can do to prepare for them today. Know that you have already given all those black boxes to death and will give more to death as you continue, but let’s make those new boxes count.
Those black boxes will no longer be filled with empty sloth or neglect, no longer filled with unconscious time, doomscrolling, or empty Netflix binging. Instead, each one of those empty boxes can be focused on your next day’s goal, which has purpose and meaning.
Memento Mori PDF - print it out and keep close by - Remember Death
