Memento Mori ("remember you must die")

It seems unlikely that anyone over 40 forgets they are mortal but naturally, we don’t keep the fact in the forefront of our minds all the time.  Still, being comfortable with one’s own death seems key to enjoying life instead of living in fear of its end.

 

Muriel Sparks wrote “Memento Mori” in 1958.  I have been meaning to read the story of a mysterious caller who phones elderly people with the Latin reminder of mortality.  I looked up the Latin phrase in Wikipedia and found the article interesting and provocative.  I have seen pictures like this before:

 

But I guess I didn’t pay attention to the living flower, the skull and the hourglass and their mutual significance.  I have sometimes concentrated on the beat of my heart and realized that each beat was one less the little engine had in it.

 

Lynn has been the Hospice caretaker for six dying people.  From her and others and some personal experience with the dying, I have the feeling that most people are not afraid in the abstract, just not now.  I think Woody Allen said, “I’m not afraid of dying.  I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”  I guess it is not possible for a thinking mind to imagine itself not existing.

 

But looking at the dead weeds, trees, insects and birds, it is easy to find examples of what something alive looks like after it isn’t any longer.  And, of course, history is all about humans who used to be alive.  As the Wikipedia authors explain, there is a strong connection between awareness of mortality and that other Latin advice, “Carpe diem!”  If you actually are alive, seize the day!  Enjoy breath, smells, awareness!  They are here now.