This article originated in Twitter,
where Barbara Schieche (not to be confused with my Barbara đ ) wrote:
@RolandDuerre How about a âmemento moriâ article, or about life being easier if you think it backwards, from end to beginning? #aschermittwoch
Memento mori really means âthink of dyingâ. Be aware of your own mortality! It symbolizes Vanitas, volatileness, especially with respect to humans.
It is very simple, isnât it? Life starts with your being born and ends with your dying. Consequently, the journey â and the journey alone – is the reward. Because when you arrive at the end of the journey, you are dead â and life is over.
But isnât Barbaraâs idea splendid?
How about considering my life just a story? Stories can be nice and tragic. Stories are pieces of information that generate feelings. Stories can be interpreted. You tell them from start to finish, from beginning to end.
If I tell the story of my life backwards, it starts with my death and ends with my birth (or shortly after procreation). And the state before you are born is probably similar to after your death. At least, I know nobody who drams about eternal life backwards, for example of paradise.
And, after all, my condition before my birth was not all that bad. Isnât that a real comfort?
Thus, I see my life as part of a great secret. And for me, this is a great idea for Ash Wednesday.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
đ As you see, I managed an Ash Wednesday article, after all. Many thanks to Barbara Schieche!
Today, I will enjoy skiing more than ever!
P.S.2
There is an American professor who lets her students run around with an âintegratedâ video camera all day long. She can even imagine us recording the entire life of a person digitally in the future. From the birth through to death!
The entire life on a computer chip? That would keep forever, like the old black-and-white pictures of our ancestors.
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