One of the most famous of all the latin phrases, Memento Mori essentially means “remember you must die”.
Now at first, that might seem a little morbid. But the intention of the phrase is honestly quite the opposite. Memento Mori is meant to remind us of how precious and fleeting life is - that we are not promised a tomorrow and at some point, each of us will have a ‘today’ that becomes our last.
This is one of those ideas where the more you think about it, the more profound it becomes. That‘s likely because we’re so used to spending our time as though it’s not that valuable, and shifting our perspective in a way where we see our lives have an end date almost comes with a bit of shock. It’s hard to imagine that we wouldn’t be here, isn’t it?
That’s why this wisdom has been passed on for so many generations - it’s something most people only start to grasp as they get older, yet the mindset it encourages is one that benefits people of all ages. Marcus Aurelius had a great quote on this:
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
I hope this little hug helps you remember to live with intention, like it has me.
