Then in a moment of synchronicity, I had placed a book in my Amazon cart and forgot about it. Honestly, I still deal with these things, but I continue to pursue breaking the habit of being myself. I want to live in joy and grace, and with a mindset of immortality. I don’t want to live in depression, anger, or unforgiveness. More so a testament to how I desire to live. As the “king of the butterflies” they hold a symbolism of royalty in some cultures.īutterflies (especially the Monarch) are a symbol of life, transfiguration, spiritual awakening, endurance, joy, grace, and even immortality in other cultures.įitting for what has been happening in my life over these last few years. The skull for death, the butterfly for life. They too will crumble to dust in the course of the ages.Īs I looked into these phrases, I often found these two symbols connected: the skull and a butterfly. When flesh and muscle are stripped away, digested by microbes, and the assault of time has taken its toll on a corpse, all we are left with is bones. The most common symbolism of death is a skull. I started looking for what else to put with it.Īs a semiotician I am trained to look at signs, symbols, and metaphors. As I looked into it more, I found this other half of the phrase, “Memento Vivere,” – remember to live. It began to reverberate in my spirit again, and I decided I wanted to get it tattooed on me. I did a whole podcast on this phrase many moons ago. Even to the point I considered taking my own life.Īs summer was in full bloom, and I was overcoming my depression, I was reminded of the stoic phrase Memento Mori. There has been loneliness, frustration, deconstructing, questioning, anger, joy, freedom, and so many emotions that it became what seemed to be unbearable at times. I’ve previously shared some of those thoughts, but at times the grief and transfiguration process has been overwhelming. Over the last couple years, there have been many deaths physically, spiritually, occupationally, and metaphorically since the beginning of 2020. Even with a regular practice of exercise, meditation, and gratitude journaling, it hit hard. I’ve dealt with bouts of it in the past, but this one was one of the hardest bouts that I’d had since high school/college. The only person that knew a fraction of it was my wife. You see a several months ago I was dealing with some pretty deep depression. Plus, I don’t want to just exist for 200 years. I could choke on a piece of steak, or any number of things that could kill me. But, I know that at any moment I could get hit by a drunk driver, a meteor, or lightning. So, 2022 was technically my 19.5% birthday. I’ve shared before that I fully intend to live to at least 200 years old. In short it means, “Remember your death (Mori) (or remember you will/could die), so remember to live (Vivere).” I’ll explain the semiotics of it in a moment, but now inked in the layers of skin on my left forearm are the words, “Memento Mori, Memento Vivere.” Along with some other imagery. For my 39th chronological birthday I got a tattoo as a present to myself.
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