(noon. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
cross-posted from The Dream Antilles
A ritual and a practice.
At our house, when we have Thanksgiving dinner, we like to stop eating and talking to go around the table clockwise so that each person present can say what s/he is thankful for. When we first decided to do this, some of our guests felt this was awkward, perhaps embarrassing. But we don’t start with the guests, so they can get an impression of what expressing gratitude feels like. Those in our immediate family understood this and were comfortable enough with it. After all, at birthdays, we like to go around the table to tell the person celebrating the birthday our many appreciations of him/her. So on Thanksgiving, it’s a natural enough question, “What are you thankful for this year?” The answers aren’t always surprising. We’re thankful for being here another year, for our health however it might then be, for family and friends, for the lives of those now departed, for whatever abundance we may have received, for creativity, for our pets, for our relationships, for our businesses, for our politics, for our dreams and aspirations and hopes, and so on. You get it, you can probably feel it even reading about doing this. It’s a Thanksgiving ritual we love. Feel free to try it out.
I always loved Thanksgiving because, however it was intended or begun, it seemed to be about gratitude. For years I’ve had a practice I’ve done. Sometimes I do it every day. Sometimes I do it once a month. Sometimes I don’t do it for a long time. It depends. What do I do? I make a list of the things I am thankful for. I number them as I write them down, and I feel my gratitude for each item as I write it before going on to the next. So, I write, “1. my good health, 2. the life of Dr. King, 3. compassion for my seeming enemies, 4. the novels of Cesar Aira.” And so on. Until I reach 50. I do this, writing and feeling, until I have a list of 50 items or more that I have enjoyed and felt my thanks for. When I am feeling pinched, stressed, exhausted, depressed, or any other “negative” emotion, it seems to take me a very long time to find items, to write them down and really to feel them. When I am feeling expansive, relaxed, rested, optimistic, or any other “positive” emotion, it takes me virtually no time to write and enjoy the list. Why do this exercise? Because it’s almost magical. And it lights me up. Feel free to try it out.
Was it Meister Eckhart who wrote, “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.” I agree.
May all of you have a happy Thanksgiving.
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community, and a happy Thanksgiving to each of you.
Thank you for reading.
…when you commented on it before…
I’m kind of jaundiced on Thanksgiving, because I was brought up with it as a pretty Christian event. But I’m grateful — just per the day — to see my family, to find out people’s stories.
this is tradition at my house also. i think it’s a wonderful way to show and extend gratitude because i find i’m grateful to have these other people sharing what they are grateful for with me (if that makes any sense)
some years(not for awhile, i admit) i would spend t-day afternoon writing a few thank you cards…to people i’d never met but who had made my days more pleasant. to the people who have a beautiful yard filled with healthy playful puppies that i pass each day i go to town, the farmer whose fields i admire for having such bounty, the lady in town across from the library that has roses all along the edge of her yard that bloom from spring until fall, their scent fills the air as i climb the library steps.
as you say, “Feel free to try it out. ”
yes. it’s nice to say thanks.
& nice matters.
thank YOU davidseth….for sharing your experiences with us. i’ve learned SOoooo much from you.
♥~
Our family observes the tradition as well. This year, I’m thankful for the friends who are oases of sanity in this crazy world.
Can I get a witness!! I have seen the healing effects of gratitude in my own life. Consciously feeling thankful is amazingly uplifting. It’s like putting that little smile on your face and feeling the transformation your energy levels. What could be more positively spiritual?
My favorite yoga instructers are the ones who remind me to be grateful for my breath and to create space internally which allows for more freedom of movement of the breath through the body. It’s all connected for me. Feeling grateful for things outside myself or my experience allows a kind of freedom and perspective too.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Thank You David!
davidseth, you have contributed to my and others world views in ways you will never know. Thank you has been in my prayers a lot. Thank you for the positive that will prevail. We are all thankful for the end of the Bushies and may we all look forward to more thank you’s, always realizing that what we are thankful for we bring forth. We are the force we thank.