Memento Mori

My finalized commencement speech. Feedback is welcome.

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Memento Mori

Congratulations are in order for such a night, so, congrats seniors. But you’ve already heard that ten times tonight, so I’ll save your ears from another spiel of praise and pride.

Most of you barely know who I am, which is fine, I am not really the kind of person to care much about that. I am, however, the kind of person that is totally okay with making people feel very uncomfortable, so buckle up. This might not be totally enjoyable.

We leave this school and march onwards towards our death, everyday we wake up and are one day closer to the day that we die. That’s not a happy thought. No, it’s a solemn and lugubrious statement, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Save for some “Elixir of Immortality” being developed in the next seventy to eighty years, we are all going to die.

Many of you out there believe in a life after death, be it heaven and hell, or reincarnation, or any of the many beliefs people have regarding death. Others of you believe that there is no afterlife. I personally agree with the latter, but everyday I lean more and more towards the idea that, after death, we are all tormented by an eternity in Mr. Nguyen’s classroom. The belief that there is no afterlife can be disheartening. If there’s nothing after death, why bother living? I completely reject this premise. I find that a lack of belief in life after death can be a little freeing. There was an eternal nothingness before you and there will be an eternal nothingness after you. All you have is a meager eighty plus year existence, so you need to milk it for all it’s worth.

I would like others to think in this vaguely nihilistic way, no matter their religious beliefs or affiliations.  Regardless of what you think follows death, live the life you’re living, don’t worry about what might come next.

Our planet this on a recursive cycle of life and death, of growth and decomposition. A young rabbit is born. It eats and it grows and it dies, fertilizing some seedlings that sprout and go on to provide nourishment for some other young rabbit that will, at some point, also die. Life and death are deeply intertwined and yet their relationship is simple. Neither are gods worthy of worship or devotion, nor are they sentient forces that can be bargained with. Death follows life, a simple sequence of events. Anything that lives will one day die, but neither causes the other. The rabbit didn’t die because it was alive, it died because death is a fact of the universe, an unbreakable law carved in stone. Nothing to stop it, the most anyone can do is delay the inevitable.

Life, in all of it’s unending, bountiful splendor, can be crap. Sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes it’s someone else’s fault, and sometimes you just your luck just isn’t that great. Life is full of mistakes, equal parts your own mistakes and other’s mistakes. You’re all going to make mistakes in your life, you’ve all already made mistakes. Maybe you didn’t take the AP classes you wanted to. Maybe you forgot to study for a test and failed the class as a result. Or perhaps you spent a year in a relationship with someone that turned out to be horribly toxic to your life. Sometimes, life will seem like it’s all just one big ball of mistakes. And you know what? That’s completely correct.

Now, this thanatopsis isn’t supposed to make you depressed. It isn’t supposed to make you fear death, nor is it supposed to influence your theological views. No, it’s supposed to get you all to understand the preciousness of the life in each of you, how important it is, and how fleeting it is. You’ve such precious little time on this little blue rock, don’t squander it. Make the most of the days you’re given. Seize the day. Carpe diem. When life gives you lemons, grab life by the neck and squeeze until it gives you pizza and an apology. I urge you all to just live. To not worry about the crushing and inevitable finish line that is death. Don’t worry about how you’re living you’re life, just make sure that you are living. Too many people die inside long before their body even begins to fade. Don’t be one of these people, be aware of your life and all it encompasses. Your thoughts, actions, beliefs, desires, passions, envies, anything and everything. Just be aware of it. Cut out what hinders you and bolster what helps you. Forgive others for their mistakes, but don’t forget, learn from your own mistakes and never, ever be afraid to make more. Live your life as deeply and as imperfectly perfect as you possibly can, as you may only have one shot at it.