Momento Mori - there's an app for that

Let's file this one under "midweek morbidity." The concept behind momento mori is that we will savor the gift of life much more if we spend a small amount of time each day contemplating our own death.  One way to do it that gained favor in an earlier era was to keep a human skull on hand in ye olde sitting room or parlor. Look at the skull, contemplate death, be happy! Simple, right? Now a company called "We Croak" - seriously, that's its name - has developed an app for your smartphone that will ping you at five random times per day as a handy, more convenient electronic substitute for contemplating your departed uncle's skull each day. As the website explains:

Each day, we'll send you five invitations to stop and think about death. Our invitations come at random times and at any moment, just like death. When they come, you can open the app to reveal a quote about death from a poet, philosopher, or notable thinker. 

 

We encourage you to take one moment for contemplation, conscious breathing or meditation. We believe that a regular practice of contemplating mortality helps us accept what we must, let go of things that don't matter and honor the things that do.

Maybe this will become a new trend in mindfulness training for law students and lawyers (or not). Check out the "We Croak" app here.

(jbl).