“There is thus a will to live without rejecting anything of life, which is the virtue I honor most in this world.”

Vivere Disce

Vivere disce is Latin, and it translates to “learn to live”. Often, it’s paired together with the phrase cogita mori, which means “remember death”. It is a phrase rooted in Stoicism, associated with the broader tradition of memento mori (“remember you must die”) that Stoics embraced.

Memento mori or cogita mori may feel morbid to some, but to an existential therapist like me, it’s just a truth of existence we all have to grapple with. Being cognizant of our mortality means being aware that our time here is limited. However, memento mori has a pairing that adds more context: amor fati—”love of one’s fate”.

While memento mori reminds us of our mortality, amor fati encourages us to embrace whatever life has to offer us. It speaks to radical acceptance; accept all, reject none. Even our suffering and loss, amor fati asks us to accept it for what it is. And acceptance doesn’t necessarily mean being happy or okay with it all. It means making peace with yourself. Not turning away from your hurt, but facing and holding everything that comes with it. Through this, I believe you can continue to explore life without feeling stuck in trauma, grief, and pain.

Vivere disce; cogita mori is a lesser known twist on memento mori; amor fati. It adds something that resonates with and intrigues me: learning to live. It adds a nuance to amori fati. Yes, striving to accept our life as it is can reap great rewards but how?

Well, we learn. We get messy. We get our hands dirty. We get curious. We become the explorers and discoverers of ourselves. We do the work!

Each one of us is a lifelong learner. There is no end destination in the path to being you. But you can learn to enjoy more peace through gaining and applying wisdom.

Vivere Disce is my work, and my passion. It is my testament to the joy to be found in becoming ourselves, the power of therapy as a tool to learn, and always being on an inner journey. I plan to use this space to write and share resources. And hopefully help you get to know more about what therapy is like and more about yourself!