Lately I’ve been inundated with targeted ads on social media, which I’m sure those of you who are on social media know what I’m talking about. Now, I’m not saying the work or don’t work, but one in particular keeps grabbing my attention. It’s an ad of a coin with “Memento Mori” on one side, and “Momento Vivere” on the other. I have heard the expression “momento mori” countless times, but “momento vivere” was a new on to me.
“Momento mori” is a saying in Latin that roughly translates to “don’t forget to die.” Many have tried to understand the meaning behind it. The most consistent understanding is it is supposed to be a reminder that life is short and to live in the moment. I had to do some digging for “momento vivere.” What I found is that it roughly translates to “remember to live,” meaning to take time for yourself and make every moment count. Though both try to roughly make the same point about enjoying life because it is short, I will just focus on momento vivere since momento mori sounds more bleak if you don’t understand it.
Momento vivere came to mind the other day as I was spending some time with Burrito. I’m not a psychologist by any means, so I’m not sure why certain thoughts hit at certain times, but in that moment I thought about the last couple of years I have spent with him and his take on life. Burrito is kind of the living embodiment of those sayings. He doesn’t seem to dwell on the past, and is not too concerned with the future. He lives in the now, and every moment he has he doesn’t want to waste them.
My time with Burrito is always such an experience to me. Not only do I get to call him friend and spend probably too much time with him (though I don’t think he thinks the same on that one), but he always keeps me grounded. I am 100% that type of person who gets lost in their own mind; worrying about the future and regretting some of the past. But with Burrito, all that goes away and I am present in the moment with him. I’m not sure how to communicate to him so he understands, but I try to thank him every day for the reminder and keeping me in the now.
The larger message is that this is sanctuary life. Being able to just enjoying these moments of calm and tranquility. Yes. There are moments of anger, frustration, fighting, yelling, etc. But it’s those quiet moments (as seen in the video) outweigh the others for the most part.
He can’t/won’t read this, but thank you Burrito, my friend.
Some bonus photos
I couldn’t decide which one to post, so instead here are both of the photos I captured of Rayne with her “Bonobo Lucy and her Baby Yuli” during lunch. One where Rayne is a little out of focus, but you can tell it’s her Lucy book. The other you can’t tell what book it is but Rayne is in focus.
