It’s Okay to Step Away

Hyper-focused and behind schedule, I sat staring intently at the glowing monitor nested to the side of my darkly lit home office; I always do my best work when I can tune out the rest of the world. And working from home has its perks too. I choose my schedule, I can listen to music as loud as I want, snack while I work, no one telling me, ‘ya got time to lean, ya got time to clean.’ I can just move at my own pace. That’s the dream, ain’t it?

I also live with battle a condition some of you may be no stranger to: ADHD. It is an SOB. I constantly need to remind myself to stay on task; my thoughts can race wildly, jumping from one ‘great’ idea to the next; even the slightest distraction can throw me drastically off course where it can take an embarrassing amount of effort to get back on track. A lot of managing this beast comes down to setting myself up for success.

Jimmy Eat World plays in the background—their newest release, Futures: Phoenix Sessions (Spotify ), is my latest jam. Hammering away on the keyboard and switching determinedly between tabs and windows, I hear the door behind me. Light blindingly fills the room as my 5 year old daughter’s silhouette appears. ‘Oh, man. I have got to get this work done!’ I think to myself in frustration. ‘Dad…I miss my grandma.’

My heart sank.

Immediately, my frustration dissipated. Aurora’s grandmother had passed unexpectedly a year earlier from cancer; she was only in her 50s. I turned to comfort her as she climbed into my arms. ‘It’s okay, sweetheart. She loves you so much. And don’t tell your cousins, but I’m pretty sure you were totally her favorite.’ While she still doesn’t quite understand death, she’s nonetheless intrigued by the idea that everyone will someday just…not be here anymore.

Death is a tragic inevitability that’s fascinated humans from the very beginning. In fact, it’s something just about everybody does their best to avoid. After all, where do we go when the curtains close and the stage is empty? When is it my time to go? Even in faith, we simply don’t know with any degree of certainty. Though as many wise people before us have posited, Death is dark and beautiful. It’s what gives meaning to the precious time we have.

‘You know, we have a lot of really good pictures of you and grandma Cheri. She absolutely adored you, kiddo.’

‘Remember that you die’

Momento Mori Latin. pronounced /məˈmɛntoʊ ˈmɔːri/, mə-MEN-toh MOR-ee • Memento is the 2nd person singular active imperative of meminī, ‘to remember, to bear in mind,’ usually serving as a warning: “remember!” • Morī is the present infinitive of the deponent verb morior ‘to die’

I first heard about CryptoMories from my @DeadFreaksNFT fam on their Discord server, but it wasn’t until maybe a day or so later that I caught my first glimpse of a Morie. ‘Well these look friggin’ awesome. Might be a good project to write about too.’ After sharing the project with my good friends and colleagues, Brynn and Reece (@HelloMSQ ), and doing some basic DYOR, it became apparent that CryptoMories was well-worth turning into a Discovery of the Day.

Needless to say, my friends have great taste

CryptoMories is a collection of 10,000 ERC-721 NFTs registered on the Ethereum Blockchain and stored via IPFS where they’ll forever serve as reminders to step away from NFTs and glowing screens to enjoy life.

Beyond the already great art and meaning behind the project, I was also surprised to discover that CryptoMories builds around an entire ecosystem of current and future collectibles co-created and led by artist and eponymous project creator iwwon , the first of which was Los Samos NFTs . Owners of Los Samos’ 125 hand-made NFTs are whitelisted for future projects along with fellow Morie holders, with all having early access to future releases.

Their team is currently focused on community building and outreach centered on mutual respect and support with an emphasis on mental health needs, and it shows. When I spoke to CryptoMories Discord admin, Tad, earlier today, they expressed how it’s ‘’…wonderful to see so many helpful and excited community members taking on leadership roles just to help and support one another.’ And they were right. I’ve gotta say, it really is a refreshing thing to see.

There’s so much tribalism and crap talk in and around the crypto and NFT space, but the Mories team and community genuinely care about and are supportive of one another. In my opinion, not just something needed, but something that’s entirely necessary. We always go further together, and humans need a bit of humanity and unity, or we’re just ngmi .

Mories are kind, mories are happy, mories are honest, mories are beautiful. Tired of watching depressing news on tv? Tired of hearing we’re all gonna die because of climate change? Need a bit of positivity?

Join the @CryptoMories discord.No need for a mori. Everybody is welcome

— iwwon 💀🚀 (@iwwon_official) October 29, 2021

What’s Comin’ Up for CryptoMories?

While the CryptoMorie Roadmap itself is undergoing some tweaks to help clarify the timeline and order of upcoming releases, there’s plenty to look forward to.

The Vandals and Cool Apes NFT projects are currently in development and will be available to Los Samos and Cryptomories holders. There are also plans for introducing lots of utility and potential tokenization features as their projects expand and reach their later stages.

There are plenty of other surprises in the coming months too, including merch and giveaways and even 3D metaverse avatars that will be used in their planned series of iwwon games (yes, this team was initially a gaming studio).

As someone who has struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide, we felt it was necessary to add a Morie help Morie channel in our Discord. Pop in there if you ever need support or if you’re ever wanting to be there for someone else 🖤

— CryptoMories 💀 (@CryptoMories) November 5, 2021

Sincerely Solemn Stats

All 10,000 CryptoMories NFTs have been minted, but you can still find them on the secondary market via OpenSea

• Smart Contract - 0x1a2f71468f656e97c2f86541e57189f59951efe7

Please Note: Stats are accurate at the time of writing, but be sure to check the original source for the most current information.

• Available Items - 10K
• Owners - 3.7K

Follow CryptoMories on Twitter and join them on Discord to catch the latest updates or even if you just need someone to talk to. And always remember, it’s okay to step away. Make room to enjoy life and those around you. Don’t just toil away on borrowed time where days melt into weeks, into months, into years. Remember to live…

‘Remember that you die…’

Simon is a WEB3 developer and technical writer. When he isn't busy programming microcontrollers, documenting Blockchain software, and saving the world from centralization, he enjoys creating music and exploring the latest technological trends.