Memento Mori
Last month I got to catch up on a lot of reading, both fiction and nonfiction. I finally got around to reading Circe, by Madeline Miller. Set during the Greek Heroic Age, it is an adaptation of various Greek myths, most notably the Odyssey, as told from the perspective of the immortal witch Circe. In case you didn’t notice, our society seems to be obsessed with the idea of immortality too, as we seek eternal youth. But we are human and we are mortal. Fortunately, with wrinkles comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes gratitude. We can be grateful for every moment that we do have on this Earth.
This made me think of another book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman, about how and why to reevaluate our relationship with time—starting with the startling brevity of the average human lifespan. As a cancer survivor and ADHD coach, I agree with much of the advice contained therein. I certainly don’t wish anyone a terminal diagnosis, accident nor traumatic event to stare death in the face. And yet, the phrases “memento mori” and “carpe diem” can inspire us to live with intent, rather than let life pass us by.
What if we could focus on the experience instead of the final product? What if we could accept our authentic self and define success on our own terms? "Any degree to which you can see the truth that our time is limited, that we can't do everything, that you can imagine far more goals than you could ever achieve but be OK with it, that is another degree you know you have taken ownership of your life and started to build a meaningful one," says Burkeman.
Because the more actively we can accept and embrace our limited time on Earth, posits Burkeman, the easier it becomes to spend our time on what matters most to us.
Sounds simple, unless we lack clarity on what matters most to us. As Turbo Thinkers, a lot matters to us! And it changes all the time! How do we know how to spend our time, especially when we experience time blindness? Let’s figure it out together. After all, YOLO!!!!
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/10/16/1045396983/time-management-tips-oliver-burkeman