Published in the Idaho State Journal and Blackfoot Morning News week of November 21, 2010
Gobble gobble, turkey hangover wobble. It’s interesting to me that a holiday with such a strong name—“Thanksgiving,” doesn’t have a lot of built-in traditions or meaningful rituals. With other holidays this time of year, there is at least the pretense of ceremony. You go to midnight mass on Christmas, you light candles on Channukah. But what do we do on Thanksgiving—the day, supposedly, to give thanks, to express gratitude, to consider the blessings in your life?
We cook a huge, over-the-top meal, watch football, and strategize the best Black Friday shopping route.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, necessarily. But in general, aside from a quick go-round at the table expressing what you are thankful for, what emotional or spiritual substance is built into this holiday? Maybe not much.
What I love about situations that lack ritual or have rituals that lack true significance is, we can make up anything that suits us personally. I like ritual--slowing down and honoring a concept through a planful ceremony or activity. Rituals can easily be made up; and here are some that might bring more meaning to your Thanksgiving gathering.
Give thanks for your health by getting out and taking a walk, run, or hike on Thanksgiving day. 5K Turkey Trots are held all over the country, and Southeast Idaho is no exception. For more information on the 2010 Portneuf Valley Turkey Trot, visit the United Way website at www.unitedwaysei.org. A simple stroll through the neighborhood with your holiday guests can be a great reminder that, given a shaky economy, uncertain job prospects, and ever-changing governance, our greatest asset is the health of our physical body. Maybe find some nice fall leaves and foliage to take home and use as décor on your Thanksgiving table.
Give thanks for Mother Nature by planting flower bulbs. Providing the ground isn’t frozen, tulip, daffodil, crocus, or hyacinth bulbs can be planted with abandon on Thanksgiving day. This individual or group activity can be a way to give thanks for the warm days behind us, and a way to honor with anticipation the warm, colorful days ahead. Thanksgiving might also be a great day to get indoor plants started; snip off and plant the babies from your spider plants or transfer your mature plants to larger pots before digging into the green bean casserole.
Give thanks for your friends and family by creating affirmation books for everyone gathered around the Thanksgiving table. The simplest way is to fold a few pages of blank paper in half and stapling the folded edge, creating a blank booklet. Each guest writes their name on the front of a book, and passes their blank book around to everyone else. Everyone then spends a few minutes writing positive thoughts, observations, gratitude statements, or well-wishes about the person whose name is on the front cover. So, while you are writing in someone’s booklet, someone is writing in yours, and so on, until each guest has written in each book. The end result is a group of happy and validated people who leave with a keepsake filled with wonderful thoughts written just for them.
Thanksgiving is a holiday with ethically and ethnically questionable origins, and it doesn’t have to be more than a way to carbo-load before the official holiday shopping season. But, if you want to infuse a little more meaning into the day of Thanks-giving, there are as many ways to do so as there will be side dishes on your holiday table. Onward!
Nancy Goodman is a licensed counselor with an emphasis on life and career coaching. For questions, please contact Nancy at 208-406-3234 or goodnanc@yahoo.com. http://vocatusidaho.blogspot.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment