Today’s Agenda
Mortality and Seriousness
Good Morning!
Happy Thursday, everyone.
Today, we’re going to get into mortality and seriousness with Martin Heidegger. Burning that off, we’re going to do a thought exercise called the Finitude Check. Wrapping up with our Book Nook, we’re going to open up Heidegger’s Being and Time.
Have a seat, Thought Breakfast is served!
Today’s Breakfast
Mortality Strips Away Triviality
We often live as if time is endless. This illusion we live with allows trivial worries to dominate. The awareness of mortality, “memento mori,” interrupts that illusion. Remembering death strips away the false importance of all those small concerns.
When life is seen as finite, priorities sharpen. Suddenly, we begin to ask what actually matters, what we’re wasting time on, and what deserves more of our attention. The pressure coming from this finitude clarifies our values. Time pressure always reveals what is truly worth our attention in this life.
Much of modern life is filled with artificial urgency: notifications, deadlines, appearances, social pressure, etc. Mortality reveals a deeper, more natural urgency: relationships, meaning, integrity, how well we spend our days, etc. Death separates false urgency from real seriousness.
Heidegger pushes us to live in awareness of the finitude of life. It’s not meant to be a pessimistic outlook, but a serious one. The self sharpens when life is understood (and approached) as limited. Your awareness of mortality, then, intensifies your authenticity in life.
Burn Those Thought Calories
The Finitude Check
Ask yourself:
What would become more real if I remembered my time is limited?
What urgency in my life is actually artificial?
What am I postponing as if I have endless time?
Book Nook
“As soon as man comes to life, he is at once old enough to die.”
— Martin Heidegger, Being and Time
Mortality strips away triviality. In today’s world, where there is so much triviality around every corner, it is easy to lose sight of our mortality. Thus, it becomes all the easier to lose authenticity and the urgency to live a good life. Death and mortal awareness reveal that urgency to us. Just like a knife, the self sharpens under friction. That friction here is the pressure felt when time becomes real.
Munch on that for today. Have a great day, and come back tomorrow for another steaming hot plate of Thought Breakfast!
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That’s it for today.
Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.
Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast
