Memento mori
When I started to read Stoic texts, I struggled with the focus on death. I knew that everyone dies, but who wants to be reminded of it?
After all my recent health issues, I started to read Stoic texts again, to help me find calm, and then, all of a sudden, it clicked.
The focus, to me, didnāt feel to be so much on death, but more on not worrying about things while you live, to make the most of your life.
That was when memento mori (remember you are going to die) became a driving force in my life.
Every time I start to worry about stuff, I tell myself: memento mori, and Iām able to just let go. Every time I think I canāt do something, or that it will be silly to do something, or post something, I tell myself: memento mori.
And then I do the thing.
Why would you worry when you can use that time to be creative?
I posted something on Bluesky and Mastodon the other day that I probably wouldnāt have shared in the past, afraid of people hating it.
One of my Stoic heroes says it best:
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
~ Marcus Aurelius
PS If you would like to read more on Stoics and the way they perceived death, here is an excellent blog post about it: 14 Stoic Quotes on Death