Refreshing Our Gratitude
It’s almost Thanksgiving! As we anticipate a socially-distanced meal this year, we may be tempted towards disappointment. A holiday to celebrate gratitude, in particular, may feel like a lot to ask of ourselves if we have experienced recent loss or hardship.
On the flip side, this year gives us a huge opportunity to experience something different and perhaps more rewarding: the holiday is wide open, and so are our hearts. We invite you to consider this Thanksgiving as an opportunity to refresh your practice of gratitude: to make the holiday new. We offer below some suggestions for creating a ritual you can enjoy on Thanksgiving or for a period of time over the holiday week.
A ritual is an action done with intention to set a moment or a space apart: it can involve almost anything that can bring meaning and awareness to our day. We can use ritual to feel gratitude for the things and people that nourish our being. Ritual can also connect us to an awareness of the abundance we experience every day.
What parts of the Thanksgiving holiday do you most enjoy? What aspects of the holiday are you missing this year? Think of small things or actions that can honor your feelings and desires for the holiday and shift them to a practice of gratitude for what is.
Creating a small altar of Thanksgiving is a ritual you might enjoy creating alone or with others in your household. This can be any space, large or small, that you set aside for a practice of gratitude. You might place a few items that represent the abundance that sustains your daily life. Perhaps you could include a photograph or a memento of someone you wish could join you this year. Are there images or colors that inspire joy and laughter? Something that represents self-love and nourishment for the heart?
The fall season brings terrific inspiration for our many senses: a sprig of orange and red bittersweet berries, apples from the orchard, or some shells and stones from our beaches nearby can remind us that nature sings with beauty and bounty. Enjoying a walk outdoors with a child to gather pretty things for the altar, or to take some private time to meander outside by yourself, can be a ritual of Thanksgiving.
Arrange your items in a circle in a way that feels harmonious to you, and place a candle in the center. As you light the candle, feel gratitude for what you have and for the abundance of the year ahead. Finally, allow the gratitude you feel to spread beyond yourself to touch another: write a card or call a friend whose presence in your life is a gift.
