Today, examine the ideas of tenacity and persistence. That might mean your own relationship to those words, an example you see of them in your life, a moment in which your perspective changed on the topic, or anything else that comes up when you think of these words.
What I think of is salmon.
I’ve included a photo of a salmon traveling upstream today because I’ve only recently done a deep reach into understanding more about salmon and I’m now simply fascinated by them.
I knew they returned to their birthplace to spawn; I knew they jumped up waterfalls, much to the delight of bears. But, I’d never taken the time to dig in and upon doing so, I learned how they are capable of living in both freshwater and ocean water, how they undergo a physical transformation when leaving freshwater and entering saltwater in which their internal hydration process entirely transforms; how they somehow know it’s time to return to their home streambeds years later and thousands of miles away, and somehow manage to do it; how they engage in group decision-making; how they gather at the mouth of their home turf freshwater and organize themselves to send the brave and eager first, and how said brave and eager may congregate and wait for the others upstream so they can all jump at once and frustrate predatory bears; how they starve their way upsteam and die after spawning. Like, that is a lot! And, each new detail I learn about salmon (like a wild academic article I read in which scientists were trying to assess the magnetic sensibility of salmon and fucking got a bunch of salmon lost as hell) only gives me more questions. From said academic article, the study’s corresponding author said:
“In the big picture, these salmon know where they are, where they’re supposed to be, how to get there and how to make corrections if needed…” and, I’m like BE THE SALMON! I AM SALMON! And suddenly find myself wanting a little salmon tattoo on my forearm or wrist to honor what might be one of the most determined and magical creatures on earth.
Let’s write.