Memento mori: On turning 55
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| Performance artist near the Sacre Couer Basilica in Paris |
For my SJC Classmates...
Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die" It names a genre of artistic work which varies widely, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die" It names a genre of artistic work which varies widely, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality.
As far as I'm concerned, the work of art that constantly reminds me of my mortality is the face and body I see in the full-length mirror daily. When I peer into my likeness, there is no doubt that I'm inching my way slowly into mortality. But there was a better way of convincing me that this was true.
Since the last few weeks after my birthday in September, I have been busy with my annual physical examination. The results have been trickling in, one by one, and my feelings remind me of my Little Girl Self anxiously waiting to open my gifts on Christmas eve.
When I did get to read all of the results, some of them were like gifts of Life. I have been monitoring the state of my organs and appendages related to nurturance and reproduction for almost a decade now. The initial signs of something gone awry in my system are still there but have at least not progressed to alarming proportions. Thank you, Lord!
But other vital organs have now signaled their need for attention and care from me. From a near-normal functioning for the last 54 years, I am suddenly confronted with all sorts of too highs and too lows in my medical records. And to my daily Senior multi-vitamins, I have reluctantly had to add a daily maintenance dose of Amlodipine besylate (In denial pa rin ako! So the murkier the association with the dreaded disease, the better). I have yet to show all of my results to the consultant at the UP Health Service who will render the final judgment on what still awaits me.
In the meantime, I am trying my darn best to eat healthy and struggling to establish a regular exercise routine. I am after all, "just" 55 and plan to live it up at least another 30 years. Much like the young man performing acrobatics on the lamp post, with my remaining years, I intend to share all that I am with the world, withstanding all the dangers that accompany it, and hopefully inspiring people my age to do the same!
When I did get to read all of the results, some of them were like gifts of Life. I have been monitoring the state of my organs and appendages related to nurturance and reproduction for almost a decade now. The initial signs of something gone awry in my system are still there but have at least not progressed to alarming proportions. Thank you, Lord!
But other vital organs have now signaled their need for attention and care from me. From a near-normal functioning for the last 54 years, I am suddenly confronted with all sorts of too highs and too lows in my medical records. And to my daily Senior multi-vitamins, I have reluctantly had to add a daily maintenance dose of Amlodipine besylate (In denial pa rin ako! So the murkier the association with the dreaded disease, the better). I have yet to show all of my results to the consultant at the UP Health Service who will render the final judgment on what still awaits me.
In the meantime, I am trying my darn best to eat healthy and struggling to establish a regular exercise routine. I am after all, "just" 55 and plan to live it up at least another 30 years. Much like the young man performing acrobatics on the lamp post, with my remaining years, I intend to share all that I am with the world, withstanding all the dangers that accompany it, and hopefully inspiring people my age to do the same!
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