Travels with Ale: There's a whole lotta shakin' going on! (Part III): MEMENTO MORI!

Once the earthquake, adrenaline rush & fear subsided, we nervously laughed alongside the many guests at the Eleas Villa (Northeast Crete) who were evacuated and were standing around the pool in their underwear. We all looked at each other without any words, but expressing the very same thought that displayed on the teleprompter on our foreheads: We could have died!

The fact is that we all know we are going to die, but have no clue as to when our number is up. The vast majority of people in the west are afraid of death. Many sages left us with the wisdom that death should be considered a dear friend who reminds us to live every day as though a precious gift. Hence the phrase: “Momento Mori,“ (https://medium.com/lanoixvisions/memento-mori-c98810495952) which means remember your death.

This reminded me of a beautiful story that the gifted shaman Don Diego share with us in the Peruvian jungle while exploring the jungles of our minds (https://medium.com/lanoixvisions/the-body-is-the-temple-of-the-lord-8432307d7937):

“Of all the possible reincarnations, to be born human is a gift.

Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness, is a great gift.

Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness and awareness of your consciousness, is an even greater gift.

Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness, with an awareness of your consciousness, and the desire to evolve is a gift even greater than that.

The greatest gift of all, given all the possible incarnations is to be born human with consciousness, with an awareness of your consciousness, a desire to evolve, and to be blessed by Mother Vine.”

The point of the story is that we have been given a great gift to live this life. Why are we squandering the limited time we have in this plain on the nonsense that fills our lives. Some may say that 70, 80, 90 years on this earth is a long time. I beg to differ. I vividly remember holding my newborn daughter Héloïse in one hand, marveling at her beauty & the brilliance of creation. She is now 26, a grown woman who is blessed with health, beauty, creativity, & mucho attitude. Where did those 26 years go? The same can be said for any memory. I can play them in my head but did they really happen? I can also clearly envision myself at the age of 99, rotting on a hospital bed with a Foley catheter and intravenous lines penetrating my body. If I manage to burn enough karma, I imagine a caring nurse gently rotating my body like a pig on a skewer to allow my fetid decubiti ulcers to heal. As I just did with the memory of the birth of my daughter, I will run the reel of my life in my 99-year-old brain and wonder: “I was just in Greece exploring life and love with my lovely wife Alexandra a minute ago. Where did the time go?”

Some will say that I am now going too far and bordering on the absurd. Fortunately, what I am sharing is not an original thought. It has been put forth throughout human history by many brilliant & illuminated minds: Our so-called reality is nothing but a dream & our pasts contrived. All we have is this moment. So the question is: Are you spending it wisely or squandering it away? MEMENTO MORI!

We are blessed with so many reminders that our deaths are imminent: A brush with cancer or serious illness or death in a close friend or family member; natural disasters where many people die; Covid! Just open your eyes and you will see it in neon flashing lights: MEMENTO MORI!

The reminder is not to frighten you but rather to live, live for life (https://open.spotify.com/album/26tdyksCBmnFNjuyfTUOaU?si=b6bwqakLRl-M0JRZKW8KtA&dl_branch=1). In this light, today’s earthquake was that dear friend prodding us to seize the day. It was also a nod and a wink to Ale & I in approval of the fact that we are doing just that. BRAVO!!!