A Memento Mori

What is this thing? It's a memento mori.

The phrase “Memento Mori” is Latin and literally means "remember (that you have) to die". Used in the context of physical objects, the phrase refers to things kept as a reminder of the inevitability of death, such as a skull. This Halloween, I'd like to share with you this memento mori that I made. It's a reminder to myself of my inevitable death and of the preciousness of every day of life.

The rainbow at the top is a timeline of life. The leftmost edge indicates the day of my birth, while the rightmost edge indicates the probable date of my death. Death is unpredictable, of course, so this date is just an estimate. Each block of color represents one decade of life, and the black line marks the present time. The colors in the past are more saturated because they are known to happen; the colors of future decades are progressively more mute, owing to the decreasing probability that I will actually experience them.

Below the timeline are a bunch of boxes which represent the approximately 3652 days in my current decade of life. The first group represents that portion of the decade which I have already expended, while the second group represents that portion which I may hope to have. Every day one box moves from the bottom group to the top group, indicating the passing of time. I first created this memento mori in August, and in the days since I've seen 70+ squares move from the bottom group to the top. Each one feels a little more precious for the reminder.

Want one for yourself? Send me an e-mail and I'll customize one just for you. After all, we are all mortal.

Further Reading

Wikipedia has an article on memento mori, of course.

Related Posts

We still miss you, Dave.  (August 2011)
When I grow up...  (September 2014)
The Process of Giving  (October 2010)