Giving Thanks through Gratitude
Thanksgiving can be a fraught holiday.
I have cherished memories of Thanksgiving with four generations of my family. Each year my great aunt and uncle hosted a feast with plentiful food and stories.
Thanksgiving was when I felt connected to the heritage of my family. We shared stories of pogroms and persecution and courage and hope. My grandmother made her famous tzimmes (candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top), and my great uncle gave an extemporaneous blessing and family history lesson before the meal.
For some, Thanksgiving is a painful reminder of a history that erases their heritage. Indian headdresses, pilgrim costumes, and stories of how everyone feasted together deny the truth. Some peoples’ feast came from other peoples’ famine. Some peoples’ triumph came from other peoples’ humiliation and annihilation.
How do we reconcile these different experiences of the same holiday?
By practicing gratitude from our own perspective. At its heart, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. Gratitude is a powerful perspective, and through it, we can honor our own truths and growth.
Here are some gratitude practice ideas for children and families:
Gratitude wall. Designate a wall where everyone can post their gratitude through words or pictures. Gratitude takes many forms, and so can your gratitude wall! You can use a chalkboard, big dry erase board, or a rainbow of sticky notes on the wall, and each person can write words for or draw a picture of that for which they are grateful each day.
Gratitude mail: Write gratitude notes or draw pictures to say thank you and put them under each other’s doors at night so everyone wakes up to happy gratitude in the morning!
Gratitude walk in nature: Walk, stroll, or roll through nature and connect with something bigger than yourself. You can collect leaves and nature items and share one thing you are grateful for for every item you find.
Gratitude jar: Collect mementos and stories of what you are grateful for, and save them in a jar. When you are feeling down or dreary, revisit the mementos and reread the stories so gratitude can support you.
Gratitude snuggles: Each night before bed we snuggle and share our gratitude. This practice has changed my perspective, and I look forward to this gratitude practice each night to reflect on my day and how much we are learning and growing.
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