Thanksgiving

 by Rain Trueax

Even in the best of times, holidays can be difficult to write about, even one as positive as Thanksgiving which celebrates giving as well as gratitude. It is a time of harvest, a recognition of what our harvest has been. It is celebrated at a different time in Canada and not by the same name other places, but almost everyone has a celebration of the harvest. 

 Most of us, the elders among us anyway, grew up when we had a very nice story to go along with Thanksgiving. It was the Pilgrims and the Native Americans coming together to share a meal. It was celebrated off and on from our nation's beginning. It became a permanent holiday on June 28, 1870, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act. On January 6, 1885, an act by Congress made Thanksgiving, and other federal holidays, a paid holiday for all federal workers. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and an act of Congress, the date was firmed up to permanently be the fourth Thursday in November. 

And so it went happily along for many years. Not so much this year where where all the mythologies surrounding it are being questioned and where we are told not to gather with family and friends due to Covid 19. Where does that leave people in a year where so much turmoil has been part of daily life. 

We can still make this a time of thanksgiving, looking at our own lives and what can we change or make different for the coming year. We can appreciate our own harvest..  

By being grateful and stopping to think about what we have in our lives for which to be grateful, we are dwelling on the positive. When we think what we wish to draw to ourselves, we enhance that power. What is getting our attention is often what will grow-- positive or negative. This year with the economic uncertainty worldwide, it's harder than usual for many who are suffering with job losses, turmoil in the cities, health problems, financial as well as environmental concerns. How can we not ask where are we heading? 

If even the experts don't know, it's not hard to understand how this could be a difficult Thanksgiving. It is hard to be positive when we have no idea why any of this is happening. 

My Thanksgiving will not be with family-- disappointing but reality. I am though thinking about the year ahead and entering a bit of a hunker down and be ready for whatever comes mood. I know it's not good to spend less, as that costs jobs, but how can one not think that this holiday season should have some personal control as to spending? How can one not wonder what is coming? 

Are we heading for a full depression? What about global warming, the thousand pound gorilla in this unstable situation? When we can't even agree about wearing masks, what will happen with the vaccine is available. We will have a new President of which half the country is thrilled and half feeling cheated. Emotionally, it's a tough time

So my personal goals for the coming year are to be grateful for what I have, make the most of whatever opportunities come my way, be frugal, watch what is happening around me, and hope that 2021 is going to be better for us all.

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(The petroglyph from Moab, Utah is a reminder of how people have always tried to understand their environment, their world, tried to make the most of their situation. There is a strong sense of power in this place. I have been there twice. The rock is called birthing rock. The mythology is that perhaps women went there when they wanted to become pregnant or were going to have a baby since the figure is birthing something but what is it? Perhaps the symbolism goes beyond pregnancy to what most of us desire to birth-- a better world for all.)