Pick the rare, fresh, formal, beautiful, uplifting phrase "memento vivere" to emphasize something's startling power to refocus you on living your life or enjoying your life (as opposed to going through the motions).

Your memento vivere might be something you see (or hear, feel, smell, taste, realize, or remember) that reminds you of life's (or humanity's) beauty, power, or evanescence. It might be a child doing a good deed, a wildflower growing up through a sidewalk crack, or a pumpkin rotting on the ground.

Rotting? Well, yes. There's a fine line between a memento vivere and a memento mori, as we'll see in both examples below.

To my eyes, "memento vivere" looks pretty easy to understand even if you haven't seen it before. I mean, we know what mementos are, and we know what it means to be "vivid," "vivacious," or "revived." But if you're not sure your readers will understand it, then you should gloss it for them: go ahead and explain what it means right there in your text. We'll see an example of glossing below.

(Source)

"There is a long history of Memento Mori reminders, including coins. We have added our own spin on the concept and included a new reverse side, 'Memento Vivere' which translates to 'remember that you have to live.' We believe there is a beautiful balance between accepting mortality and embracing life."
   — Staff, Shire Post Mint, undated

"To keep the end in mind is to treat the time we have today as a gift... Remember that we are going to die someday, but in the meantime, today is a good day to live. Memento Mori. Memento Vivere."
   — Michelline Espiritu Suarez, Phil Star, 5 November 2021

has this page helped you understand "memento vivere"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "memento vivere" without saying "live your best life" or "YOLO."

try it out:

Now that we know what a memento vivere is, how do we find one?

David Cain suggests doing this by asking yourself the question, "How does the room sound right now?" And then simply listen to the room: experience it, live in it, and don't even try to mentally describe it.

I tried that. It was really hard.

Try it! Does it work for you? As you listen to the sounds in your surroundings, does it provide you with a memento vivere? If that didn't work for you, what might?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Palindromes in Poems: Yay!

Check out the snippet of a poem, and supply the missing palindrome: the word spelled the same backward and forward, like "yay," "sees," or "racecar." Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"We all have
hats. I try to
_____ some notes
you'll understand
but this was not
our instrument
or plan."
   — Kay Ryan, "Party Ship," 2013

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of letters in this palindrome is... four.
Hint 2: The letter that this palindrome starts and ends with is... "T."

review this word:

1. As we've seen, the precise opposite of a MEMENTO VIVERE is a MEMENTO MORI. But a pretty close opposite of a MEMENTO VIVERE is any sight that reminds you of

A. how life is fleeting.
B. how life is a frightful dream.
C. how life is a journey, not a destination.

2. There's at least one book, one art exhibition, and one musical album titled "Memento Vivere," a testament to the universality of the experience _____.

A. of dreaming that you're secretly watching your own funeral
B. of getting so busy living your life that you need a reminder to truly live your life
C. of pointing your camera at new things and new places instead of the familiar people you love

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B Answer to the game question: "We all have hats. I try to toot some notes you'll understand but this was not our instrument or plan."    — Kay Ryan, "Party Ship," 2013

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.