On Memento Mori
We're not promised anything in this life, least of all time.
So why, then, do we leave our self-improvements for tomorrow, every time, without fail? We put them off to a rainy day, or for that day we know will soon come where everything will just fall into place and feel exactly right...when the most likely scenario is that that day will never come.
The intention of Memento Mori is not to be morbid or depressing; rather, it exists for the opposite cause. Without something there at the end of the tunnel reminding us that our time here on this earth is limited, why would we ever have any desire to get shit done? I used to think it was a rather strange and slightly dark way to view life and the world, but I realise now more than ever that it is in fact our mortality that is one of our greatest gifts. To see the word in its sprawling beauty in our limited time, to experience it all through a human pair of eyes...it seems to me that nothing could be more beautiful than that.
We all come from and end up in the same place, all destined to one day be forgotten to history with enough time, regardless of wealth or status. No matter how great we are, what we achieve. What more encouragement could we ever really need to go forth and pursue our interests, push ourselves hard both mentally and physically, realise our full potential, to love and listen to the people around us with our full attention (even if it means roping your wandering mind back from elsewhere)? I'm sure to many, this concept makes all this seem utterly pointless. But all it takes is flipping that tiny switch to find yourself with nothing but freedom.
Mortality is something we all very much take for granted. We can only ever experience this very moment before it resigns itself to that fascinating library in our minds and turns to dust. And so shall we, too, turn back to dust.
Made from earth, return to earth. What else is there to do but make the most of it?
