Actually, it is not a Halloween decoration at all. If you look at some of the most historic portraits in the Christian tradition, you will see a skull within the painting. This was known as memento mori, the memory of death, which was intended to motivate the subject of the painting to make the most of the time given to him. That skull on my desk is not a morbid decoration or a macabre ornament from a dark holiday. It is a constant reminder of mortality as essential to the human condition, and an impetus to be aware that every passing day removes one tick from the column marked Future and adds
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