Memento mori is an expression meaning ‘remember that you will die’, or ‘remember your death’. The term arose during the time of the Roman empire, and became a popular saying during the Middle Ages.
One way this expression spread was through visual symbols like skulls. These images were meant to remind viewers of their mortality, and that no matter their lot in life, whether they were the pope, a lord or a peasant, death would come for them. Their wealth, their power, their fame, their misfortunes were all temporary.
Meditating on your mortality is only depressing if you miss the point. It is in fact a tool to create priority and meaning. It’s a tool that generations have used to create real perspective and urgency. To treat our time as a gift and not waste it on the trivial and vain.
Death doesn’t make life pointless but rather purposeful. And fortunately, we don’t have to nearly die to tap into this. A simple memento mori can bring us closer to living the life we want.
In my travels I met Tony who not only owns a second-hand bookshop on the Atherton Tablelands but also a memento mori which he keeps close.
Over the last forty years, I have collected my own memento mori, beginning with my father's death in 1984 and my best friend's in 1995. Then there are the ones I befriended after I settled into domesticity who have since died, to say nothing of the ones I lost contact with.
That’s all from me this morning as it's time to make myself a cup of tea. Remember, it could all be over - today, tomorrow, someday soon.
Memento mori.
