Translated from the Latin as ‘remember (that you have) to die.’
This has been running a lot through my head today. Most likely because of what I went through this past weekend. Maybe because someone I have great respect for passed recently.
The Stoics, like Marcus Aurelius, thought about this a lot as well. They use the thought to motivate themselves to be better each day, to make the most of each day. Since you never know when that Ol’ Grim Reaper is going to cut you down with his big ol’ honkin’ Scythe you shouldn’t put off important things. You shouldn’t procrastinate. You shouldn’t waste the time you have because you are rapidly running out of it.
I’ve known conceptually I’m going to die for a very long time. As Top Dollar said in The Crow ‘Childhood’s over the day you know you’re going to die.’
And yet, I still procrastinate.
I know I’m old, and getting older by the day. I keep acting like I have all the time in the world, but I know I don’t. And I look at all the things I want to do, and don’t do them. Maybe because it is easier than taking responsibility and putting in the effort to make something caliwandalous and facing falling short of the task. Or worse, putting in all the effort and being completely ignored.
Where am I going with all this? I don’t know. I’m probably just being neurotic. We writers are known to be neurotic types.
Probably it is just fear. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of failure. Fear of crashing and burning publicly in a spectacular manner, drawing eternal ridicule and scorn. Fear of success?
I just have to remember what Holly Lisle always said
You can do this.
Wise woman, that Holly.
Time to continue working on my flash fiction collections.
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