Memento Mori

 I promise you that this is not intended as a deliberate correlative to the 'I am very happy' blog post which I wrote recently. In some ways this post is all part of the same piece.

I checked what the literal translation of this Latin phrase is, and apparently, as Latin can be quite compressed, these two words mean "Remember that you must die". It has a long tradition as a phrase and as an idea, from Roman times and certainly into Christian tradition and European artistic traditions. There are several renaissance and later portraits which have an image of a skull included in them as a reference to the fact that the glory of the sitter must be viewed through the inevitability of the sitter's death. |Here is an example.

(picture with skull)

The way in which the Romans and the Christians viewed the importance of the phrase was rather different, it must be said. While the Romans emphasised at least some of the time that the fact that you must die is a reason to enjoy fully the things of this life, the Christian take was unsurprisingly different. Because there has always been the emphasis on the Judgement that will come after you die, the Christian take on 'memento mori' is more like "Remember that Death comes to all of us, followed by Judgement, so do not sin in this world and instead be upright and do good things." There is in fact a lovely example near to us of a Medieval visualisation of the idea in the large painting called the 'Wenhaston Doom', which was miraculously rescued from destruction in the 19th century, having been painted over for centuries previously. Here is an image of it, showing Resurrection and Judgement, and everyone going naked whatever their rank. 

Now, to broaden my theme, I would like to explain why I think it is important to remember Death in Life, for all of us, all the time. I understand that for some of us, the thought of death, whether our own or our loved ones, is too painful to want to remember or consider. But it is - if nothing else - the one thing that unites all mankind, and all creatures too for that matter. We live and therefore we die. If we couldn't die, then we wouldn't be alive. And the success of all creatures in successfully living in their environment has only come about through the changes that occur through hundreds and thousands of succeeding generations. And you don't have generations if you don't have death. 

To become much more personal in this matter, I have had need (and even desire) to consider death closely over the past three years. When Cro was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in 2022 it was clear to both of us and not denied that it would kill her, and the only question was when. To deny the fact of death would have made her last year so much worse. In fact the very last post she ever put on Facebook said "Dying in hospital. Love to all X" It was, as one friend said, such a Cro message. She looked the fact of death square in the eye and did not deny it. I hope I can do the same, as it is such a powerful part of living. 

My own diagnosis of myeloma a bit over a year ago was much less harsh than Cro's diagnosis. And my health is currently unaffected and I have signed up for a 400km sponsored ride next year, so clearly illness is not any kind of crimp on my life yet. But. But myeloma is treatable but incurable. It is a remission/relapse cancer, so it always comes back whatever your treatment. And each new round of treatment is good but not as good as the previous one. And then eventually no treatments work, and you eventually die of kidney failure or repeated infections or something else. And it would be silly of me to deny any of this, because it would affect my life now to do so. I also know that the average survival time from diagnosis is just over 5 years (probably 6 soon, with new therapies) so if I am bang average I will die in mid 2029. Of course I might not, but it would be very rash to make plans for 10 years' time. 

So 'remember that you must die' is eminently practical for me, and it makes me enjoy things more, and want to do more things, and meet my friends and family and loved ones as much as I can. So its effect on my life is a very positive thing I would say. I certainly want to squeeze as much pension as I can out of my former employers, at the very least. 

Some people do not like to hear this kind of talk. You may be one of them. In fact, you may not have even got this far if the subject hits you too sharply. I understand. Death can seem like a tragedy: "Why did you take him/her away from me!" But even if it gives you pain when a loved one dies or when you consider the fact that you will die, does it help you if you ignore the fact? You do not even have to take on the old Christian tradition of death as the gentle alleviator of the woes and pains of this world. You could just view it as a fact that both confirms you are alive and makes you want to enjoy this world and tell people you love them when you do. 

I know that all my confident talk will have to be tested at some as yet unknown time in the next ten years, in all likelihood, and I know that I may then say "No. Bugger this. I don't want to die!" But it will have as little effect on the facts as if I had said "Yeah, bring it on". So I intend, while acknowledging that we all die, every single one of us, ourselves and our loved ones, to use 'memento mori' as a way of confirming life, living in eternity's sunrise as Blake said, and remembering to say 'I love you' as much as I can.