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Good morning,
I’m sending for a second time this week because I have a bit of a different topic on my mind as we go into the weekend - Memento Mori. It’s powering some of my “risk taking” these days.
Bit #1
Over the Summer I started stopping in on and walking cemeteries. These walks were not long, maybe 10-15 mins at a time. Sometimes I’d do it silently. Sometimes I’d do it listening to Gary Vee’s pod in one airpod while feeling the rain fall.
That’s a strange combo from the outside - Gary + a cemetary walk. Yet, Gary regularly is like “GO,” do the thing! “Keep at it.” Work hard. “Who cares what other people think?” And that’s a stark contrast to the steady state of a cemetary.
We’re going to die. The people at the cemetary have died. They don’t care what other people think, anymore. Their time is done. It’s over. The story has been written. Rather than avoid that reality, I’ve been aiming to make more a part of daily life. I’ve been aiming to be alive to new things with a strong intention.
Bit #2
I listened to Chris Sacca and Tim Ferriss’ first pod back in 2015. It was a Wow pod at the time. I’ve re-listened a few times. Anyway, Chris mentioned a book Not Fade a Way: A Short Life Well Lived. I bought it. It sat on a shelf for a while. I recently finished it as part of my campaign to “turn off and read” each night. I’m so glad to have finished it. It impacted me for the better.
In the book, Peter Barton, with the help of Laurence Shames on writing, goes back through is life. He recounts various stages of life over the time arch of his cancer journey. Laurence steps in for context from time to time and again at the end.
It’s a hard read. Peter is so alive while also dying. The stories are honest. The struggles are honest. The reality is Peter died from cancer. I’m so glad I read it. Chris was right. Super worth the read.
Bit #3
I grabbed a Memento Mori coin, for too much money, from Ryan Holiday’s Daily Stoic after hearing him mention it. I’m carrying it in my pocket a few days a week right now.
One one side there is a skull, a timer and a tulip. On the other is a quote from Marcus Aurelius “you could leave life right now.”
Similar to the big feeling you can get in big nature (I call it The Drop), I’m getting a different yet powerful feeling when I reach to get keys out of my pocket and this coin is there. There is a push to be present and I frequently sense something like “this could all be gone.”
Sum & Change
So what? What now? You might be thinking, “That’s nice Joe. Go for it. Keep doing death things.” But, here is the thing. These 3 Bits are pushing a greater sense of being alive.
I’m seeing colors more vividly here and there. I’m cherishing small moments with my Wife in different ways than I did before. I’m aware of the kids vibrancy in new ways. I’m having a regular sense of being filled with joy. And, all of that is so good. I prefer it that way, even if looking straight at death with purpose is how to get there right now.
And for the project - the business? I’m finding that being purposely aware of death being around the corner and the joy of being alive more often makes it easier to take risk. Those in the cemetary can’t take risk anymore. It’s over. But not for me. I can! I’m finding it easier to create… easier to write these days, easier to make. That’s not always been the case. So, it’s good for the creation in the business too.
So, want to look at death with purpose more often with me?
On Your Way
As you head off into the weekend maybe you too could benefit from doing some weird things. Walk a cemetary? Carry a death coin in your pocket? Read a book about life and cancer?
Either way, I wish a full sense of joy and life to you and yours.
Now, get after it!