
I wish you a happy Thanksgiving! This holiday is about more than just the food. When I think of
cornucopia as metaphor, as a representation of abundance and sustenance, I feel a deep gratitude for all I enjoy in this life. I am thankful for my family, friends, health, home, and work. I am grateful for worldly possessions, books, the Internet, and for the capacity to enjoy and employ them.
Nearly every time I run the water in the faucet, I think of the clean water we have at our disposal that most of the world does not have. I think about the fact that I am rarely hungry, physically, spiritually, or emotionally. When I need replenishment, I can get it.
I am thankful for the people I know and the people I've had the good fortune to know who are no longer here. Thanksgiving can be a time to celebrate those whom we also mourn.
Some of the gifts we enjoy are music and art and laughter, and remembering that beauty exists amidst pain and destruction and poverty. I am thankful for the sweet pets many of us have in our lives to give us warm and furry comfort and enjoyment. Endearment exists in many forms!
Gratitude is a universal human value, but it is one that we have to bring our consciousness to else we forget to be thankful. A consciousness of gratitude enhances our experience of life in each and every moment. And of those to whom much has been given, much is required ... to paraphrase a quote from the New Testament.
Holiday traditions can be a way of bringing family together for a conscious celebration of thanksgiving, usually around a special feast of some kind. When I think back to traditions of the past and how over time traditions have to shift to follow our lives, I have happy memories, tinged with nostalgia, and I look ahead to future. One thing is for certain, if we focus only on the food, we are missing out. Don't get me wrong, I love good food, but within the food is the message.
We will be traveling to Philadelphia today, Allentown tomorrow, and then back home for the weekend. We'll spend time with Tom's side of the family, and we are all looking forward to some laughter, good food, board games, and just quality time together.
Whatever your plans, I wish you the gift of gratitude. Certainly I am thankful for my blogger friends and family who give me special threads of connection in my life! Best wishes to you!