Nature has a way of illustrating things we humans sometimes make unnecessarily complicated.

Recently, I created three short social media videos for my friend Kathleen Cesarin’s page, Philosophia Within. Each explored a philosophical idea through footage of the natural world.

Although created as individual pieces, the three videos share a common thread. Together, these **three lessons from nature** reflect much of my own thinking about life, mortality and acceptance.

I’ve brought them together here as a single video.

Memento Mori — Remember That You Will Die

An uncomfortable thought for some, but one I’ve never considered particularly morbid.

Death is the one certainty we all share. Remembering that our time is limited can change how we value the time we have.

Nature offers constant reminders of this. Things grow, change, decline and disappear. Nothing gets an exemption.

Memento Vivere — Remember to Live

There’s not much point in remembering that you’re going to die if you forget to live in the meantime.

We’re remarkably good at postponing things. We save experiences for special occasions, fill our days with obligations and convince ourselves we’ll find time for the things that matter later.

The natural world doesn’t spend much time worrying about later.

Amor Fati — Love Your Fate

Of the three ideas, this may be the most difficult.

Amor Fati is often associated with the Stoic tradition and Friedrich Nietzsche. It goes beyond simply accepting what happens to us. It asks whether we can embrace life as it unfolds, including the parts we wouldn’t have chosen.

Nature doesn’t negotiate with the seasons. It adapts to what comes.

Three Lessons from Nature, One Philosophy

Taken together, these three lessons from nature offer a perspective I’ve increasingly come to appreciate.

Remember that your time is limited. Make use of the life you have. And understand that not everything will unfold according to your plans.

These aren’t necessarily answers to anything. They’re ideas worth considering.

The videos were originally created for Kathleen Cesarin’s Philosophia Within, but the philosophy behind them is very much my own.

And sometimes a walk through the woods explains it better than another thousand words.