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Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

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Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#61

Post by wnolens »

z5h wrote: post #23
yessirwhatever wrote: post #17

I read a quote today that I think is relevant: > “Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make…

Thank you for this comment! I'd like to add another detail, which is that people generally accept the idea that "deathbed perspective" is a highly privileged perspective, but with no real justification for this position. Here's a good article that questions this idea: https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-the-deathbed-perspective-consi...

I always thought it was kind of silly to live your life so that for 1 day at the end of 80 years, you have some pleasant thoughts (assuming you are know you will die and aren't absolutely in miserable pain anyway).

I get that it's more a heuristic for living a good life. But life is so uncertain and your goals subject to change significantly every 5-10 years.

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#62

Post by mrthrtrk »

Memento mori is not about creating spectacular moments that you will remember in your death bed. It's about being in the present moment and always doing your best as if it's the last thing you might be doing (knowing that your best changes day to day... see The Four Agreements from Don Miguel Ruiz, the fourth agreement). Stoicism is not about creating a memory, it's about living in the present moment.

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#63

Post by BeetleB »

wnolens wrote: post #61
z5h wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for this comment! I'd like to add another detail, which is that people generally accept the idea that "deathbed perspective" is a highly privileged perspective, but with no real justification for this position. Here's a good article that questions this idea: https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-the-deathbed-perspective-consi...

I always thought it was kind of silly to live your life so that for 1 day at the end of 80 years, you have some pleasant thoughts (assuming you are know you will die and aren't absolutely in miserable pain anyway). I get that it's more a heuristic for living a good life. But life is so uncertain and your goals subject to change significantly every 5-10 years.

You don't need to wait till you're at your deathbed. You can do this assessment every 5-10 years. When you're past 40, you've lived quite a bit. You can look back and see what was worth it and what wasn't.

For me, stuff I regretted wasting time on while younger (e.g. too many video games) bring back much better memories than doing things I (mistakenly) thought had more value. Quitting gaming in my early 20's was, in retrospect, not a great idea.

But yeah, I agree with you somewhat. A lot of people who live to a fairly old age actually have said that if you live long enough, you'll realize that "nothing matters". So probably not best to put too much weight on their perspective.

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#64

Post by mrleinad »

jehb wrote: post #50
tmarice wrote: post #20

Love the concept, not so much the execution. The "Login after customizing everything" and "Pay to remove the watermark which renders the calendar useless" are borderline dark patterns. But on the positive, it gave me an idea to make my own version of this calendar, sans the money grab.

The watermark literally just fell off of the document when I opened it in Inkscape. Everything else (except the watermark) rendered there, so it was completely clean just by opening. (Sorry, OP.)

It can be removed using Acrobat too, so...

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#66

Post by bobthechef »

javert wrote: post #45
vincentmarle wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mindfulness (what you’re basically describing) does not conflict with memento mori. When you realize that this tomato could be the last tomato you’ll be eating, having the conversation with your kid be the last conversation you’ll be having etc etc you’ll fully appreciate each moment in life as if it could be your last.

I think a death-centric way of thinking about life is unhealthy. The fact of death isn't what makes things valuable or meaningful. The fact that our time span to enjoy things is limited also isn't what makes them valuable or meaningful. The quote is describing much more than mindfulness. It's saying that values and meaning are right in front of us. To reduce that to mindfulness misses the value in what it's saying.

No post body was provided.

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#68

Post by Graffur »

wobblybubble wrote: post #53
krageon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mindfulness Mindfulness is a product of an industry seeking to capitalise on the yoga pants (and later suits) demographic, to great success. Let's not legitimise it by using it as an example of healthy thinking, because it's not.

Mindfulness is an English translation of the Buddhist word “sati” which Buddhists use to describe one particular quality of meditation. To dismiss it because some people have coopted it would be like, well, to dismiss the yoga tradition because of “yoga pants”.

Can we dismiss yoga for silliness anyway?

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#69

Post by b0tch7 »

yessirwhatever wrote: post #17

I read a quote today that I think is relevant: > “Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make…

Sam Harris has a brilliantly balanced take on this subject: https://youtu.be/GL2uFYi86kk

Memento mori doesn't mean every moment needs to be absolutely epic. But a mindful approach can alleviate daily stresses, concerns, fights etc. You're gonna die one day, so just relax and enjoy this moment, whatever you happen to be doing!

Re: Show HN: Life calendar – use the concept of Memento mori to embrace every week

#70

Post by foobiekr »

chestercodes wrote: post #24
trevormcneal wrote: post #21

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