Memento Mori. Temet Nosce.

One day, I am going to die. Here are some musings on that.

One day, I am going to die.

Yeah, I know I talk a big game about cryonics, life extension and mind uploading. These are important things to advance, but I do not expect to reap their benefits.

One day, I will be dead. Soon after, I will be forgotten. The Dragon Tyrant will take me in its jaws and rend me limb from limb, casting me into oblivion. My soul will be eternally destroyed, never to return.

I haven’t sat down and looked at this hard in recent memory, and it's time for a refresh.

I get one shot at this life. To make matters worse: the one life I live will *always* have happened. According to timeless physics, my life will be forever locked in the wave function of the universe. Every feeling I have, every action I take, every effect I have on the people around me. I have one chance to make a finite and permanent effect on the world that I can never change.

Every moment I spend not living my life to the fullest is precious time I will never get back. I'm not referring to travel, grand charitable gestures, or hyper productivity (not that I don’t aspire to those things). I'm referring to time spent not learning more about *who I am*. Who is Alex? In what way will he carry on after his death?

I don’t have a particular legacy I wish to leave behind. I don't think I want my name in the history books. Knowing what I do about even the greatest historical figures, that truly sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

I merely hope that I can be the kind of person who *inspires others to also find themselves*. After people speak with me, I want them to think "Wow, talking with Alex made me realize how much of a miracle I am, to be thinking and feeling! I should think more about that."

Then, hopefully, they will inspire others to do the same.

To be able to turn your gaze inward is what makes you and I beautiful, and I want to always be doing this. Sometimes that simply means curling up and watching the rain with a mug of hot chocolate, and being fully present in that moment. Sometimes that means standing up for what you believe in even when it hurts. Sometimes that means accepting a breakup and remembering you are more than what that relationship was.

Yes, you and I will one day die. I do not think this is a happy thought. It is a mark of the darkness of our universe. However, we do not stand to gain anything by denying this. As a rationalist, my goal is to stare at the darkness of the universe, allow it to wash over me, and yet remain standing. For it's only once you face the darkness that you can know where to shine your light. I hope you will find your light, because I know it is beautiful.