When we are living something very good, in the midst of that pleasant feeling of happiness, sometimes there is anguish: one day it will end... Yeah, everything comes to an end, even if the end is our death. Thinking about it can be sad, but it can also not be!
This is what the Latin expression “memento mori” proposes, which invites us to think about death in another way, in another context and with another objective. Check out what this expression means and reflect on it.
Meaning of memento mori
Memento mori, in Latin, can be translated as “remember that you are going to die”. Although it seems something sad, it is not quite like that: it is a reflection to remind us that everything will soon be over, so that we live today intensely, doing everything we want without wasting any more time.
If there was no tomorrow, what would you do today, right now? So why aren't you doing it, if there's no certainty that there will be tomorrow?
Thinking about death, in our culture, is a scary thing. It is often associated with pain, grief and suffering, so we avoid even saying the word death. But when we think a lot about it, not about how we're going to die, but about the fact that we're going to die, that idea breaks down.
It's like when we were at school and the teacher warned about a very difficult test with all the content of the semester. When we heard that, despair hit, isn't it? But day after day, when we saw that we were capable of taking the test, it became less scary.
And this is life: as we mature and realize that we have everything we need so that we can go in search of our dreams and desires, we naturalize the idea that things will come to an end, because we focus only on enjoying today and the present moment. .
The origin of memento mori
It is not known for sure how this expression came about, but there are two better-known uses. Monks confined in monasteries used, and in some places even today, use the expression as a greeting, in an attempt to remind everyone that sins must be atoned for today, not tomorrow.
In addition, it is said that when generals returned victorious to Rome, being greeted, an adviser followed behind them all the time saying "Memento mori", to remind them that no glory is immortal and that we will all succumb to the weight of time.
Other reflections
You've obviously thought about death. If you didn't think about yours, you certainly thought about someone's death, even if it was in a movie. Human beings have always thought about death, the only certainty we have in life.
To be among those who spoke Latin, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, for example, wrote: “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. As long as you live, as long as it is in your power, be good.” That is, enjoy today and do what is possible now, not later, which may not even exist.
Another who thought a lot about death was the philosopher Seneca. He wrote: “We think death is a thing of the future, but part of it is already a thing of the past. Any time that has passed belongs to death.”
What a profound idea, no? Thinking that death is something that is on our side now, not there in the distant future, is something that can change the way we see life. It's like the arrival of a great love: you don't prepare to receive the person overnight; his entire life has brought him to this moment.
Memento mori and “A Series of Unfortunate Events”
Just as carpe diem is associated with the movie “The Society of Dead Poets”, memento mori has this connection with the “Serial Misfortune” book series.
That's because memento mori is the motto of Prufrock Preparatory School, the gloomy high school where the protagonists, Violet and Klaus Baudelaire, attend.
Books about memento mori
Understanding and accepting our immortality, that is, that we can die at any time, is essential for us to have a healthier relationship with life and with our plans and dreams, so we have separated two books that can help you reflect on the end. in a healthy and trauma-free way:
“Death is a day worth living”, by Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes: speaker and doctor specializing in palliative care, Arantes makes a beautiful exposition about what she learned about death by living with patients who received diagnoses of terminal cases , which helps us to assimilate death and deal with it.
You may also like
- How to face and deal with life changes
- Delve deeper into the meaning of Catrina, the Goddess of Death
- Understand how death is seen in traditional societies
- Lose the fear of talking about death
- Improve your connection with nature
- Our parents are getting old! How to help them?
“Why the beginning of the end”, by Ginevra Lamberti: what if we thought of life from the end, not from the beginning? Reflecting on this, the author approaches taboo topics because they deal with death: she talks about the daily life of a funeral home, about courses with the theme of death, about thanatoesthetes (professionals who apply makeup to the dead), thanatophobia (extreme fear of dying) ), among other themes, always mixing fiction and reality.
When we understand that death is a certainty and that it can happen at any time, doing what we want with body and soul becomes urgent, then we start to prioritize our dreams. Reflect on the end and assimilate this idea that it may be closer than you think, so why not roll up your sleeves and go do everything you want right now?
