Ďakujem
Ďakujem – It is Slovak for “Thank you.” Perhaps I should use vd’ačnost which means gratefulness or gratitude. Vdacny is also a good choice as it means thankful or grateful. Why Slovak? It is actually a part of me that I unfortunately do not acknowledge much these days. I miss some of the traditions from back home that involved Slovak culture. It is a string from a spider web that holds me to something solid, something from my past. Life and time take me farther away from “home-ness” (as an existentialist might put it).
Why a category for “thank you”? I need to do this and to do it on a daily basis—to be thankful. Many of you know that I am a “recovering melancholic”. I do not in any way wish to demean any who are actual recovering alcoholics or to diminish the intensity of those who struggle with that particular addiction. Depression is something like alcoholism though.
Cognitive psychology shows us that in many ways “we are what we think”—a kind of paraphrase of Descartes cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore, I am.” Those of us who are recovering melancholics must daily be vigilant in realizing how we can develop certain attitudes concerning ourselves can lead to myriads of negative thoughts. Hence, we then look at ourselves in the mirror like some mutant version of the Saturday Night Live character of Stuart Smalley and say, “I’m not good enough; I’m not smart enough, and dog-gone it; therefore, everyone hates me….”
I like saying that I’m a melancholic since it has romantic or colorful connotations. Picture a bohemian artist-type sitting in a pub along the Seine, drinking cognac, holding his head, staring out the window and periodic scribbling something on paper something that could be the world’s next big novel or a plan for a mural or some other incipient opus magnus. “Depression” connotes that something is “wrong”, it is clinical, it yells for some sort of pill to correct a disease. I, like anyone else who has come to accept this condition, realize that, yes, this is not a good thing, but I can still, nevertheless, be productive and still somehow creatively provide something positive to both myself and to society. Lincoln, Dickens, Churchill, and Beethoven are the most notable folks who I admire who were melancholic.
However I digress a bit here. It is because of the above that I daily must find something to be thankful for and to. It helps with keeping negative attitudes in check. Secondly, I am a Christian and I am reminded in the New Testament that “in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thes. 5:18). (Notice the preposition “in” and not “for” here). Other places in the New Testament echo this notion. My faith (“faith” which is the “assurance of things hoped for” –Heb 11:1) has kept me strong and fixed in times when I become my own worst enemy. Many of you know that I am a literal conglomeration of two of the most downtrodden peoples of the world, Slovaks and Blacks. I’m sure there is some Jewish in there somewhere, seriously. Those folks survived and persevered through the centuries due to faith. I must do so as well. It is a big string on that aforementioned spider web for me. I remain strong and secure despite myself.
So, I must express my thanks, my d’akujem, to the Transcendent who I still feel I can call “Daddy”. I must acknowledge the fact that I do have good things in life. That life is worth living. This expression needs to be done, daily. I need to cogitate this fact, daily. Cogito ergo sum.
Therefore, here below is my first d’akujem for this blog.
I am indeed so extraordinarily very thankful for people who love and like me for who I am, who challenge me, who put up with me, who think of me enough even to give me automobiles (three of you), who give me chances, who have helped me financially, emotionally and vocationally or who were just there to listen to my melancholic laments. Some of you were present in the past and not much now, some now and not much in the past, some now and then, but definitely were present. You have helped form and mold me, made me feel welcomed and accepted. Chances are if you are reading this, you are one of those folks. My friends are a very diverse sort: political liberals and conservatives, agnostics and devote Christians, scientific and theological thinkers, hard workers, creatives, old and young, among others.
The words of Sirach (an Old Testament book considered apocryphal in Protestant circles) sums up my feelings.
“ A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds.”
Ďakujem to the Transcendent who is dear. Ďakujem to you, too, who is and are dear.
I need to be thankful for something every day.
–your friendly neighborhood Sparrowman.
