Is Thanksgiving just a one-day event?

Well my friends, it has been quite a while since I said hello to you all (or goodbye for that matter) and we are certainly living in interesting, frustrating times that require communication.

So, in these difficult times, let me try to re-establish relations. It is very nice and encouraging to know that there are readers at the end of these lines, who will read them, comment on them and thus continue our communicating. And, I intentionally wanted to write after Thanksgiving when the act of giving thanks, the feeling of gratitude seems to retreat for a full year; as if giving thanks was more about food and shopping binges (for lots of stuff we really do not need) than a feeling of true gratitude and thanks.

I believe that there is a difference between giving thanks (please notice the act of giving) versus feeling a sense of gratitude (here it is feelings that control). They are different acts and they represent different emotions, however both of them are just as important (but unfortunately just as neglected). We proffer thanks to someone who does something nice, who shows a modicum of care; but we also give thanks automatically many times without even looking at the person we are thanking, just part of our learned social behavior.

Now, gratitude is different, albeit less used. We do not give gratitude, we feel gratitude. We are surrounded by it when things happen in life for which we are grateful. They may not represent a service, wealth or comfort. They are just the every day pleasure of being alive surrounded by so much (both bad and good). Gratitude is felt when we know how to differentiate the good from the bad and selecting the good, no matter how small it may be.

A lot is written these days of pandemics and health tragedies about the toll taken by solitude. Solitude is not a disease, it is simply being by oneself and using the time creatively. Before the pandemic many people complained not to have any free time, now they not only do not know what to do with free time, but they are afraid of it. Every single one of us should feel grateful at the opportunity that free time gives us. To be creative, to share, to be a good friend and/or neighbor. See, we are never alone, we are surrounded by different stimuli, we are surrounded by possibilities to extend ourselves and reach somebody else. Even when we are by ourselves, we are always next to someone, we just need to know how to reach out.

So, next year, as Thanksgiving approaches, the pandemic recedes into history, and we seem to be back into some kind of normal life, let us truly feel a sense of gratitude for everything we accomplished in one year, for everything that surrounded us with the noises, the dysfunctions, the needs. Maybe if we truly feel gratitude, there will be less solitude, less evil, less superficiality. Then, we can truly celebrate.