Memento Mori Lab Mayra Gomes

The evil that destroys our dreams and leaves us for dead in the dark corner of our minds. Or is it? Maybe not, but still I can't shake the feeling that self-doubt holds us back as artists and there's no magic solution. All we can do is talk about it.

What's Memento Mori Lab?

Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab 

Twitter: @mementomorilab 



Poems



Self-doubt

The questions arise,
One question at a time.
The doubts creep in,
Pinning me down.
I got no answers.
But even if I did,
Doubts don't wanna hear them.
The answers don't matter.


Doubts grow stronger, louder, brighter.
The self recoils to the dark corner,
Afraid to see any more question marks.
Terrified of the answers and scars.
Stuck in a cycle of seeing both all the time.


Self doubt, delusion.
It's all the self really knows
Second guessing itself by default.
The self remains in the darkness,
The fire burnt out.


The self doubts it all,
It's too dark,
It sees nothing.
It can only hear the outside
Confirmation of doubts. 


It trusts made up stories,
Rumours, strangers and experts.
Inadequate, the self locks itself,
And bathes in ashes
Of Doubts burnt question marks.
Of dreams burnt in self-doubt.

-

Soundtrack

Music: Big Boi Pants by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Music: Womp by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Should we really be looking for ourselves? Maybe this whole trying to find myself journey is a hoax and there’s a better way, but it’s hard to swim against the current when you don’t even know where you’re swimming to.

This episode is even more confusing than this description but it might all make sense in the end.



What's Memento Mori Lab?

Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab 

Twitter: @mementomorilab 

Poems

Seasons - Available on Not Poetry (Medium publication)

-

In a Box

I could fit just fine at first.

The box had enough room.

Me and my delusions.

But I grew a bit taller,

The box felt smaller,

Until I could no longer be.

I did what we all do,

Replaced it for a bigger one.

For me and more delusions.

I kept the memories in a shoebox.

Tokens of a well-lived cardboard life.

After years of changing boxes, I realized,

No matter the size, I'd always outgrow them.

None of them could last forever.

I would not last forever.

Why waste time on the perfect fit for a day?

I was never meant to be in a box.

Nothing will fit anymore and that's for the better.

-

Soundtrack

Dreamers by Nettson | https://soundcloud.com/nettson

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Ambivert by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.com

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

If you are human, then chances are, you live more in your thoughts than objective reality. But we are not our thoughts and we often forget that. We don't realize how much our thoughts affect us but questioning these thoughts can be the path to more freedom in our creative process and in our lives.



What's Memento Mori Lab?



Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab 

Twitter: @mementomorilab 



Poems



Pile of Thoughts

I had pages and pages of thoughts

All the thoughts I could think of.

It was time to get them out of my head.

Once and for all.

All written down in front of me to see.

They all just sounded nothing like me.

They piled on, thought after thought.

A never ending stream of thoughts.

A train of thought, then another.

I couldn't remember boarding that train,

And yet, there I was, sitting by the window,

Listening to the clickety-clack of the tracks.

Once again, I ended up nowhere.

I ran out of paper, but never of thought.

I ran out of ink, I ran out of steam,

I ran out of time, but never of thought.

Hours wasted on a trip I never meant to take.

Days worn out by catastrophic scenarios

Months gone with the what ifs of tomorrow.

Years dissolved into irrational fears and regret.

And yet, the thoughts kept running wild.

I got tired of this race I could never win.

I sat down in the only seat I could find.

Right behind the mind.

Suddenly, I could see it all.

The piles and streams, the race, the trips,

The trains, the steam, the pain, the scenes.

None of it was me. None of it was mine.

-

Slow Motion, soon on Not Poetry (https://medium.com/not-poetry)

The thought of right or wrong choices stops us from making any choices at all, in life and the creative process. We can't get away from making choices, but we can choose to look at them differently.

What's Memento Mori Lab?

Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab /  Twitter: @mementomorilab 

Poems:

Choices

I haven't stepped outside in days
Every step is a choice we make.
The path I take, the way I walk, away I walk.
I hope the next step will be better than my last.
In fiction, days like this don't usually exist.
Does fiction imitate life? Or life, fiction?

As the writer of my story,
It's hard to see the line in the sand,
Of my choices and chances.
In life, choices are right or wrong.
In fiction, choices are better or worse.
I'd rather live in fiction, with no days like this.
It's liberating to have no wrong to choose,
And no right to follow.

-

Soundtrack

Ride by Dirk Vega | https://soundcloud.com/dirkvega

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

Winter Sunrise by Peyton Ross | https://soundcloud.com/peyton-ross-edm

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Mass in motion. Building momentum and creating a process might be among the best ways to follow a creative path. The challenges and fears bound to creativity are many, but momentum can help us push forward beyond our resistance leading to our best work yet. But how can we build momentum? And how can we stop momentum when we are not going in the direction we want? Let's talk about it!

What's Memento Mori Lab?

Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab 

Twitter: @mementomorilab 



Poems



Momentum

Mass in motion
When all goes downhill
Momentum is easy to see
The uphill is a battle, unless
There's enough speed.

Mass in motion.
What if I suddenly stop?
The moment is gone.
Would I remain still forever,
With no breeze in sight to move me?

A mess in motion.
I am never not in motion.
Even when I sit still, my mind spins.
What if the speed depends on me?
Uphill or down, it all begins with me.

A mess in motion.
One moment sets it off.
I'm more in control than I thought.
The momentum is mine to build.
The momentum is mine to break.

-

Playground - Soon available at Not Poetry https://medium.com/not-poetry

-

Soundtrack

Wasting Time by Sapajou & Yorgo H | https://soundcloud.com/sapajoubeats

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US



Mondays by MusicbyAden | https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Let's talk about facing blank pages and feeling completely frozen. Whenever there's a creative thing we really want to do, why is it that we feel completely paralyzed, unable to inch forward while our minds work overtime? Or is it just me? Also, in this episode: overthinking, analysis paralysis, creative resistance and taking action.

What's Memento Mori Lab?

Memento Mori Lab is our permission slip to experiment, try new things, and keep bringing ideas to life. In my case, that means writing mediocre poetry, some stories and scripts, doodling, and recording this podcast. Memento Mori reminds us, we are going to die. Whatever creative endeavor you've been postponing, now is the time to take action.

🔥Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts! 👉https://anchor.fm/mementomorilab

Instagram: @memento.mori.lab 

Twitter: @mementomorilab 



Poems

Snow

It’s snowing again.
I hate talking about the weather.
But everything is covered in snow,
What else is there to talk about?

I haven’t seen a green leaf in months
It’s all grey and white. Mostly white,
Just like my blank pages.
Everything is covered in white.

I could paint the white off the pages,
Scribble some ink or use colors I once knew.
But the outside would remain awfully white,
Blank, and frozen in time, just like my mind.

-

Freezing - Soon available on Not Poetry - Medium

-

Soundtrack credits:

Urban Hip-Hop by MaxKoMusic | https://maxkomusic.com/

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

LIFE CONTROL by Lesion X | https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

In My Mind by Deoxys Beats | https://soundcloud.com/deoxysbeats1

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US