Memento mori

Memento Mori.

Latin for roughly Remember you have to die.

At first glance, seems a macabre statement.

However, I’d like to think the sentence in perhaps the more original intent of the statement : Our time here is limited. We do not know what is in store for us. Be intelligent about how the time may be used. At the end, we are all equal. What are you going to do in the meantime?

After writing the article on Pecorino Romano cheese and mentioning its use by the Roman legions, I started delving a bit in classical history again these past few weeks.

Historical fiction on the late-Roman Republic was (is being) read.  Thumbed through a book in my collection. And even re-watched a few episodes of HBO’s Rome again.

I tend to dive deep into a subject once it grabs my interest.

And out of all that, I was again reminded of fresco found in Pompeii. A fresco shown  in a book or two in my collection and featured in the opening credits of the above series.

I’ve been fascinated by this fresco for a while.

The skull represents our mortality of course.

The symbols of wealth and power on one side; the symbols of more modest means on the other.

Fortuna’s wheel is below. The butterfly represented the soul to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

And above it all is a leveler.

Life is about balance. We can make plans to achieve that balance. But who knows what will happen next.

Life is a series of choices. I’ve mentioned my time bank many times. How it gets spent no matter what is done.  What a valuable commodity it is in many ways.

How do I want to spend the funds in the time bank in the years I have ahead?

How do I want to spend these funds not knowing what may be in the future despite any plans I may make?

 And how to make sure my time banks funds are spent while maintaining a balance between poverty and wealth?

Or maybe it is just damn cool piece of art instead….