Are you thankful
for Thanksgiving?
Now, I gotta admit that it’s weird for me to talk about this, since Thanksgiving was over a month and a half ago, but I hear some of you are only just getting around to it tomorrow, so I might as well bring it up before you’re all away from the Internet inducing turkey comas.
I have to admit that in my case I’ve always been slightly ambivalent about this particular holiday. I have the great privilege of coming from a close family that loves each other, so we tend to see each other a lot. This means that there isn’t anything particularly special about our sitting together to eat–we do it all the time!
This means the focus for me is less on the gathering than the meal itself and herein the ambivalence truly lies–I don’t like traditional holiday food. I know. It’s weird and I’m a bad person, but it’s not like I refuse to eat. I just don’t look forward to these specific meals like so many people I know do. I’d rather go out for sushi.
But despite all of this, I am thankful for Thanksgiving nonetheless, because it so clearly highlights all of the good in my life. The fact that a day filled with food and family doesn’t strike me as especially extraordinary, definitely proves how fortunate my life has been–I can take for granted what so many others long to have.
I am very thankful that I changed my plans to drive across the state and will be spending four glorious days in the comfort of my own home, sleeping in my own bed and doing whatever I feel like. I’ll see the family at Christmas anyways.
“Thanksgiving was over a month and a half ago…” Ha! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who celebrates the autumn equinox with a feast and a genuine outpouring of gratitude. I’m too aware of my Native American ancestry to find much worth celebrating on Thanksgiving Day, and I’m not as close to my in-laws (whom we’ll join on Thursday) as I am the family of intention I celebrate with at the harvest. So I suppose I’m not particularly thankful for Thanksgiving. I’d rather spend the day in acts of service for those who live with daily food… Read more »