Harvest Celebration
Every year my family and
I have the generic tradition of going around the table and saying what we are
thankful for. A tradition I found meaningless when I was younger. Everyone had
the same response
“Oh, I’m thankful for my family, this food,
and the house”
“I’m happy to share this
day with my family and have a roof to live under”
“Thank-you to my family
for making this food and being here with me”
Every response was a variation of the last. Each took
little to no effort to say, as if we did it because we should. Not because we wanted
to recollect on everything, we take for granted on a daily basis. It seemed
remedial to me. Like making turkey on Thanksgiving because it’s a societal norm,
even if no one in your family enjoys it.
I
find myself questioning this saying of thanks every year before Thanksgiving
break. Same
with most holidays, why do we give presents on December 25th,
why should we get money for losing a tooth? All of these things I appreciated
as a child seem odd to me at the age of 16. I imagine it as a set rule you are
expected to follow for the sole reason that others do it. Is Thanksgiving about
saying what we are grateful for or performing an act of gratitude?
The
first Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration. It was a celebration of making it
through winter and having a successful fall harvest. Here, they invited the Wampanoag
tribe to feast with them as they were thankful for their help in harvest. The
celebration was about community, unlikely people coming together to help each
other for no incentive. The Wampanoag tribe performed an act of kindness and
the pilgrims returned with an act of gratitude.
While
Thanksgiving still has some of these roots, having a family dinner, creating
new memories, spending time with loved ones, etc. I believe society today has
strayed from this performed act of kindness. Not doing it because you have to
but because you want to. Thanksgiving has lost it’s meaning over the years. It’s
not just a day to eat food and have a break from school. It’s about a
community. So this year I am thankful for the patience and care that others
have given me, with a new goal of how to return it.
You make a good point. Sometimes, especially at this point in our lives, maybe gratitude is a little performative. I think we learn to really appreciate what we have with age and experience. Not that that's an excuse, just something I feel like I've noticed personally.
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ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with the points you make. It does feel as though these kinds of things are just done for the heck of it, and just because its what everyone else does. Its as though people have forgotten the true meaning of these holidays and how they originated, like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc... I really like your idea of making it a goal to show the gratitude you have for others.
ReplyDeleteRoutine is the problem that plagues holidays. While having a routine is great for productivity (so hopefully nobody is overwhelmed by the holiday craze), the notion of having a select day of the year every year is detrimental to remembering how important it is to reflect and be grateful. Truth is, we're supposed to be reflect and be grateful everyday.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as people get busier lives, we forget how privileged we are. Thanksgiving along with other holidays are mainly a last ditch effort to remind people to step back and analyze their year. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Perhaps this comment is a bit cynnical, but thankfully with posts like this one -- which point out this issue and tries to fix it -- I'm still hopeful for our future.
Interestingly enough, my parents adopted this practice because everyone they saw in America else did it. My parents only started practicing these holidays when they immigrated to the U.S, and even then it still is regarded as a time where our relatives come to America. Also, it sucks how Thanksgiving is being more and more intertwined with Black Friday.
ReplyDeleteIt is cool that you are able to see the true meaning of the holidays and you plan on using this for good.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. It seems to me like thanksgiving has become increasingly cliche. People need to think about better things they are thankful for than "family, etc." This isn't to say that people shouldn't be thankful for their family. I am merely saying that is should be assumed that you love and respect your family.
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