Dear Fellow Mortals,
Most of us already know that our time is limited.
What we forget is to live as though it were.
We postpone the call, the conversation, the work that matters. We hurry through ordinary days toward some better season that is always one threshold away. We know we will die. We just rarely remember it while we are living.
For centuries, philosophers and theologians kept a short phrase close: memento mori. Remember that you will die.
It sounds grim. It was meant to do the opposite.
The point of remembering death was never to fear it. It was to return to life: to stop treating this day as a rehearsal and to see what is actually in front of us.
That is the subject of the second course in The School for Mortals.
Remember to Live
Memento Mori, Memento Vivere
It is not really a course about death. It is a course about limits and what they ask of us: the limit of our time, the choices it forces, the attention it requires, the judgment it makes possible, and the gratitude it can teach.
Five days. Each one asks a single question, works through it with the thinkers who have answered it best, and ends with a practice you can do that day.
Day 1—The Limit: Your Time Is Not Endless.
Day 2—The Cost: The Life You Cannot Live.
Day 3—The Present: What Time Should I Wait For?
Day 4—The Fruit: What a Life Is For.
Day 5—The Gift: Remember to Live.
The practices are intentionally small. Let go of one possibility you keep alive out of habit. Take ten minutes to concentrate completely on something you tend to rush. Look at a part of your life from the end. …
About The School for Mortals
The members section of Dying Every Day is called The School for Mortals. This is where we bring these ideas into daily life through short courses—one lesson a day—each thoughtfully centered on how to live.
There are five courses in all:
Resist and Persist: The Stoic Art of Self-Discipline (available now)
Remember to Live: Memento Mori, Memento Vivere (begins next week)
Know Thyself (coming soon)
Love for Mortals (early next year)
A Rule of Life (TBD)
Each course stands on its own. Together, they build toward something practical: a small rule of life of your own, made of practices you can actually keep.
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Becoming a Member
If you are already a member, thank you. Day 1 of Remember to Live will arrive in your inbox on Monday, and Resist and Persist is already available to you.
If you are not a member, now is the moment to join.
Membership is designed to be affordable, and it is free if you cannot afford to pay. Here are some options: (1) become a member; (2) join at a 50% discount if necessary; or (3) accept a complimentary membership.
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Our time is finite. But that is not bad news.
It is a good reason to remember to live.
J.W.
P.S. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to share them.