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

We keep running around these circles and we always end up right where we started. This episode talks about the vicious and virtuous cycles we can encounter in our creative process. 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 Circles Running in circles and cycles The stories rinse and repeat On never ending steam The novelty feels fresh But, it's just a new shade In the same shape. The edge, if there, is hidden. When found, it's too sharp Better go around the circle One more time. - Eternal cycles Do we just live to die? Anything in between is Just the passage of time. Would we really live, If we didn't die? The cycle seems cruel Death comes too soon, Sometimes. But eternal sounds long. Life is loud, death, silent Eternal has one continuous sound. The cycles begin The cycles end. Some cycles break. Eternal remains a dot on a page. Still, forever, untouched. Would you be a dot, forever? Spinning around cycles doesn't sound much better. - Songs Lost Paradise by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.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 Lo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | 2021 | by Alex-Productions | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx0_M61F81Nfb-BRXE-SeVA 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 Time (Instrumental) by RYYZN | https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn 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

Worn out lives, weathered souls. We all have moments in our lives that we feel depleted, like all the energy we had, dissipated. The colors of the world don't shine as bright, and we feel spent. But, maybe there is something we can do about it. Something that might make our lives a little better, even if the world around us is crumbling down. Maybe. 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 Weathered The sun wasn't meant to burn, It wasn't meant to scar, to stain, To weather. But, we fly too high and get too close. Icarus and I, we fall everytime, Our wings dissolve, dripping wax. We forget all that we saw from up there, Down here, I can see nothing past the fog. I run to the water to find my reflection, I am no longer bold and bright. I am weathered. Why get so close to the sun? Why did I? It was never my design. I let the chants change my direction, When they learned I could fly. I meant to reach the sky and the stars. I shot for the moon hoping to land on tomorrow. I cannot open my eyes anymore, Not sure if it's the sharp brightness Or pure exhaustion, burning closed. Flying took all I had in me. - Weather Within - Available on the Medium publication Not Poetry https://medium.com/not-poetry - Faithful Mission by Artificial.Music | https://soundcloud.com/artificial-music 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 Faith by yoitrax | https://soundcloud.com/yoitrax 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

Abstractions of time, we created to make sense of the fact that we are going to die. "They" say that the past is dead and the future unborn, so all we can worry about is the present. But how can we do that when we are consumed by imagined scenarios and past traumas? Memento Mori Lab does not have the answers, but we do have this episode to raise more questions and hear some poetry on that subject. 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 Past, present, future Abstractions of time, segments of life, The burden of living knowing we die. Like a child's hand, dipped in old traumas, The past sticks to our skin and does not let go. We cling to what we know, our tales of time. Memories woven together, the patchwork of time. A mistake was made when we labeled today, Today is not the present. It's mostly past and future. The present is fireworks, bursting here and there Moments we lose in thought when we look away. The future is always ahead but never to reach. It sits in front of our thoughts, untouchable Like a mirage in the middle of the desert Of the best and worst case scenarios. Abstractions of life, segments of time, The burden of living knowing we die. - Frames - Soon available on the Medium publication Not Poetry https://medium.com/not-poetry

Inner critics, self-saboteurs, censors, oppressors. We all have different names to these little voices in our heads that criticize our every move and keep us from doing the creative work we want to do. These voices are one of the main reasons we avoid focusing on our creativity. No one wants to hear the nasty things they have to say, so let's talk about how we can deal with them. 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 https://instagram.com/memento.mori.lab?igshid=1wz55ueuk60at Twitter: @mementomorilab https://twitter.com/mementomorilab Poems Whispers Sometimes it's just a whisper A faint doubt between thoughts Before diving into blank pages The pen stains the wordless paper Until the murmur spreads like weeds The voices grow louder, and I, smaller. Nothing I do is good enough, I am not enough. Mediocre, at best. Even if you tell me otherwise, They say some people are just too nice. I hear nothing else outside my mind The space between lines was better off barren. - Silence I thought I'd discover the silence Underneath deafening punk rock, Ringing phones, talking people, Clashing pans, and washing machines. When it all died down. The house went quiet. It was time to meet silence, Maybe I'd finally hear my voice. Or hear nothing besides my breath. But my mind flooded the rooms With screaming voices that weren't mine. - Voices I hear them loud and clear No matter how noisy life gets. I hear them quietly screaming at me. Like the Phantom of the Opera, inside my mind. Will they ever have anything nice to say? Or neutral? I'd go for neutral. But all they do is belittle me, for my own good. They tell me how pathetic I am, how pitiful. And dumb, and lost and useless. What good is that anyway? How's that meant to help exactly? Thanks for sharing, you’ve said enough. -