Month: May 2021

tenacious

adjective – tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely: a tenacious grip.

from Latin tenax, tenac- (from tenere ‘to hold’) 

Monday, May 31, 2021

            Today, I hope I can hold in thought that everything inside me and around me is tenacious. True, it can often appear that life is the opposite of tenacious – that things around me are tentative, unsure, and preparing to fall apart at any moment – but the truth is that life – reality – is absolutely unshakeable. Perhaps I should say that the present moment is unshakeable, because that’s what life, or reality, actually is – the eternal present moment – and nothing can unfasten the grip of this persistent and resolute force.  It is everywhere and everything, and is single-minded in its determination to always stay with me, right here and right now.  Come what may, be they losses or disappointments or hurricanes or sorrows, the tireless, single-minded present moment is always beside me, always inside me and all around me in its boundless, steadfast way. And it truly is boundless. Since no other moment ever exists but the present, it extends out in all directions – and forever – and thus is always everywhere, always unflinching and unswerving, always tenacious. 

            If we’re looking for a purposeful, unflagging friend – and surely all of us are – we need look no farther than the never-ending here and now. That’s where life, or reality, always is, and it is always tenacious, always waiting and ready. 

convenient

from Latin convenire ‘assemble, agree, fit’, from con- ‘together’ + venire ‘come’.

May 30, 2021

            Today, like every day, everything will be convenient, because everything will ‘come together’ in a perfect way. As I sit here at my desk very early on this morning in May, the vast universe is coming together in multitudinous ways, as it is always doing. There’s never any dispersing in this congenial universe – never any disbanding or scattering. All is always assembling, never dispelling. Today, like all days, will be a non-stop get-together of atoms and molecules and thoughts and feelings and  sights and sounds – a celebratory social occasion, in all ways and in all directions and in all moments. The seemingly separate entity called ‘Hamilton Salsich’ will be an inseparable part of the festival, along with innumerable specks of  dust and swirls of winds and rays of light, all assembling in an effortless way to work special wonders in every moment, which will make all the coming millions of moments on this 30th day of May utterly ‘convenient’ – totally together, well balanced, calm, and at ease. 

            Wow! How fortunate I am to be part of this coming social festivity called ‘today’!  

Agreeing

Friday, May 28, 2021

            I hope this can be a day of agreeing for me. The boundless universe has something planned for me for each and every moment, and I hope I can be completely congenial. It would be fun – and relaxing – to be able to say a respectful ‘yes’ to whatever comes along today – to smile and wave and reach out my hand to every thought and situation. There’s no doubt that concurring would be a far easier way to spend this day than differing, arguing, and rejecting, which is how I usually spend my time. I don’t mean that I am generally disagreeable when with Delycia or other friends. No, my disagreeableness arises when I’m dealing with thoughts and situations. I’m almost always arguing with my own thoughts – tossing out this thought or fighting against that thought – and I usually treat seemingly adverse situations like outright enemies, rather than friends I can possibly learn something from. For me,  a typical 16-hour day is usually, to be honest, a 16-hour battle. 

            This day can be different. As I write, I hear the spring birds outside making their morning music, as if singing a convivial greeting to whatever comes their way, and I hope I can be just as agreeable. I hope that, each and every moment, I will have the same opinion as the universe. If life presents me with seeming difficulties and problems, I hope I can hold out my hand and help them feel welcome, and thereby help myself see how utterly harmless they really are. I hope to be able to smile at every situation that arises, to quietly consent to every circumstance. I surely won’t like  everything that happens today, but I hope I can peacefully acquiesce to everything, and thus gracefully rise above to see the glories and wisdom of whatever happens.  

THE GIFT OF 'AGREEABLE'
May 28, 2021

One day, 
the word 'agreeable' 
gave its best gift
to a sadly quarrelsome man,
and the man suddenly saw 
the wisdom of assenting.
He turned to his wife 
and wished she would speak 
so he could agree,
and he gave his enthusiastic consent 
to the wheezing in his lungs. 
At breakfast, 
the lukewarm coffee 
gave him the chance 
to be courteous to it, 
and he greeted a pain in his foot
in a chivalrous manner. 
He made some mistakes that day,
which made him mad, 
but he simply smiled 
at his anger, 
and it softly disappeared. 

WORDS THAT AWAKEN 

Humor

4:29 a.m., Thursday, May 27, 2021

         It’s always been interesting to me that the word ‘humor’ derives from the Latin word for ‘moisture’, suggesting that a little humor can sprinkle refreshing moisture on the boring dryness of the so-called ‘personal’ life of Hamilton Salsich. On any given day, I can get so wrapped up in the tedious task of protecting my separate little ‘self’ that life itself can seem as dry as an arid desert, and that’s why a spirit of showery, refreshing humor can be beneficial. Life seems so serious sometimes, but a good laugh can loosen up the seriousness, and soon my troubles are miniscule bubbles in the boundless, effervescent stream of life. Whenever I’m leaning over a cliff of scorched dreads and worries, a little laughter always sprinkles relief, and soon I’m seeing, again, that life is more comical than tragic, more like an amusing sitcom than a serious drama. 

         Today, I hope I can laugh at distress and suffering when it shows up – turn on the hose of good humor and give it a blissful shower! 😂

A MOMENT OF LAUGHTER
(about Bobby L., 37, Blessings, CT, USA)
Thursday, May 27, 2021

One day,
a moment of laughter
loosened up his life, 
and soon it was floating off
like a family of clouds 
in a boundless sky. 
He was scared 
to see all his seriousness 
disappearing so smoothly,
but soon he saw
that laughter lets in the truth
about everything, 
and that seriousness is as flimsy 
as the flowing winds,
and before long 
he and life were laughing together 
and throwing fears 
up in the sky 
like small, shining stars. 
 

I sometimes laugh in a light-hearted way when seeing the beautiful flowers in Delycia’s garden, like this elegant poppy just popping forth from its shell yesterday in full splendor …

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Adorable

4:30 a.m., Monday, May 24, 2021

       Today, I hope I can keep in mind that everything is adorable. The word ‘adore’ derives from the Latin word ‘orare’, which means ‘to speak’, and everything in this sacred universe is always speaking. Today, I hope I can be always listening. Messages will be made for me today – messages from the early songbirds that are making music outside as I write this, messages from all the moments that are ready to roll through the day with their infinite liveliness, messages from sticks in the grass and shadows among trees and the spoken words that will come like lucky winds from Delycia to me all day – and all of these messages are ‘adorable’ precisely because they will be speaking directly to me. 

       So here’s a message for me from me: “Listen carefully, Ham. This will be an adorable day.”  

Align

4:33 a.m., Tuesday, May 25, 2021

     It’s wonderful to realize, early each morning, that everything in the universe, and in my life, is in flawless alignment – all perfectly positioned to make a perfect day for everything and everyone. Of course, it’s hard for me to see this alignment, as absorbed as I usually am in my small, personal world, but it’s definitely there. What’s wonderful is that I can sometimes feel this alignment, this way the universe has of displaying itself with trimness and discipline. Even in the midst of the chaos of a human world beset with disease and hostility, I sometimes sense the orderliness that exists in nature in even the worst storms – the way 100 mph winds work in graceful harmony as they whirl through the atmosphere, the way the flames of all fires swirl with a certain kind of symmetry. In the midst of what we humans might call ‘chaos’, there is always the consonance, the evenness of form, of the immeasurable and meticulous universe.  

       Today, I hope I can see the superbness, the ideal alignment, in all the minutes and hours, for it will always definitely be there.     

Saturday, May 22, 2021, 4:34 a.m.

       For most of my life, I have wanted to achieve – to bring off big successes, to carry out complex tasks with aplomb and honorability. What I have usually failed to notice, however, is that the universe all around me is always achieving, always performing astonishing stunts, always being the consummate superstar. Just the way early darkness is slowly disappearing into daylight as I write this is an astonishing feat, as is the fact that my old fingers can quietly dance across the keyboard to bring new words to the computer screen. My chest just now rose up silently with a fresh breath of air. Is there any achievement more amazing than that?  

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Applause

Friday, May 21, 2021

5:25 a.m.    Today I want to listen to the peaceful applause the universe is constantly creating. In the midst of my worries and concerns, I hope I can hold my ears open to hear the praise that’s all around me – the trees clapping their new young leaves together, spring’s birds singing compliments about their neighborhood, and even the oil in the pan, a bit later, speaking highly of two eggs as they swirl together to become my breakfast. For a very fortunate 79-year-old writer of prosperous, happy words, this day in May should be a day of applause. 

I felt lots of applause inside as Delycia and I walked the Beebe Pond trail this morning – a pathway that wanders in wonderful ways among roots making lovely patterns across the trail, stately trees of all shapes and sizes, and boulders that have been majestically sitting there for centuries. Here are some scenes from the walk …

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Thursday, May 20, 2021

Here’s our chalkboard poem for today …

            I awoke several times last night and listened for a few minutes to the faint musical humming of the traffic on the distant interstate, and it has me thinking, this afternoon, about some of the other things that happen while I’m sleeping. For the few hours that I’m asleep, the universe, as always, is a stirring place. Besides the music of countless insects, there must be limitless kinds of activities among nighttime animals as they live their important lives – the whirring and rushing and soaring that’s essential for the creatures that carry on with their lives while I’m lying among soft sheets. Then there’s the nighttime work of people who prepare essential things for the rest of us while we sleep – the third-shift factory workers who make the beds that we sleep on, the grocery employees who get food up on the shelves so we can select what we need in the morning, the employees of power companies who keep our nightlights lit. While I’m sleeping, airplanes are streaking across countries and seas on essential missions, hospitals are helping people prepare for better lives, and police officers in cities and towns are taking their peacekeeping work seriously. While I’m fortunate to be finding a few hours of rest beside my wife, rivers are melodiously flowing and stars are doing their silent songs, as always, above us. 

So many songs while I’m lost in sleep!

Saturday, May 15, 2021

SPIRIT
May 15, 2021

It is the spirit of engines 
that gives them joy in the morning. 
It is the spirit of faucets 
that sends forth water 
to bless our hands. It is 
the spirit of words 
that makes them land and settle 
in the branches of our lives. 
It is the spirit of a book 
that shakes the branches 
in a breeze.

My little magnetic whiteboard poem for today …

Thursday , May 13, 2021

Yesterday, we took a very long walk – about 10 1/2 miles – and it was also a very good walk. I loved the loose and easy way we walked – taking our time but also showing the briskness and spiritedness that old happy folks like us often love. Delycia mapped out the walk for us, and it was an excellent route – along the lovely river, then up and down the testing hills of Mystic and Groton and along the winsome trails of Beebe Pond Preserve, and then back along the river to the car. I must admit that I was bone-tired as I got into the car, but also thankful that I have a dear friend who will find these adventurous walks for us and stride beside me for 10 1/2 spunky miles!

Below is our chalkboard poem for today: