Life is so fragile
Yesterday my sister in law got in a car accident. She was only a few miles from home when her car spun out of control and smashed into a guard rail. Thankfully she came away from it with only a gash in her forehead and a mild concussion. The gash required a trip to the emergency room for some stitches, but that is minimal compared to how bad it could have been.
All of that just reminded me how fragile life is. Every day we get up and take our trains, buses, and cars to work. And each time could be our last time. We get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget how quickly it could all be taken away. I know I don’t think about it until something like this happens.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
In former times there were clocks with the words written on its face:
“memento mori”
(latin; = commemorate death)
To think about it is the one thing.
But what would be your conclusions?!
January 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
My conclusions?
Well, mainly that we have to do more with our lives than just go through the motions assuming that we can put things off and do them in the future. We may not have a future to do them.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Oh yes! Thinking about death may be thinking about life!
I did it: I fixed the words “memento mori” on one of my clocks (the one near my working table….).
It will remind me about living “today”!
January 26th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
… and I will seriously think not only about conclusions but also about concrete consequences!
January 26th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
*** I have to add some correction:
looking into the “memento mori” I found out, unlike I wrote in my first comment: in former times there weren’t the words “memento mori” written e.g. on clock faces, but there were symbols or allegories referring to the death, what was called a “memento mori”.
But I like these new words on my clock
Positively I could express it as “carpe diem” (seize the day).
Though it doesn’t mean exactly the same (it doesn’t provide so deeply the reason….).
March 29th, 2008 at 11:56 am
P.S.:
“Memento mori” in modern form and in English…
http://www.watchismo.com/modern.php?cmd=view&id=314