Memento mori: I am a big believer in the power of metaphor to teach and remind us of important ideas. Often I surround myself with images, artifacts, art works etc that provide daily reminders of important themes in our lives. One of my favorite is the juxtaposition between our active, striving will – placed in a competitive world where strategy, tactics, planning and knowledge are our keys to success; versus our innate weakness and mortality. The tension between our high ambitions and our mortality fascinates me. I symbolize this with the image of the chess board – the quintessential example of our striving, strategic mind in competition, and the skull, the best memento mori – reminder of mortality. In my living room it is a daily reminder that for all our planning, desiring and striving – we are weak and finite – so don't take it all too seriously and remain humble in a world where the best laid plans of mice and men often crumble and fall.
