Halloween is even closer, mere days away, and seems to be a bigger deal than it once was. I notice more people putting up lights and other decorations and more community events than I used to. Certainly many of the costumes that kids wear today are quite elaborate compared to what we wore as children.
Christmas, as we all know, has become such a retail phenomenon that a visitor unfamiliar with our customs and history would never guess at a glance that it is actually a religious holiday. I've seen Christmas ads in August. We complain every year about how early the hype starts and how "commercial" the celebration has become, but most of us also contribute to that commercialism in one way or another.
Somehow, we manage to squeeze Thanksgiving between those other two holidays. There is an expectation that families will come together for a special meal. There's also the big parade in New York and lots of American football. I wonder, though, how much genuine thanks is given on that day?
I wish we had a widely recognized International Day of Gratitude - not connected to pilgrims or settlers (or giant Underdog balloons) or the history of any particular place or people, and not limited to any one religious tradition, but a day devoted principally and universally to gratitude. I'm not the first person to have such a thought. In fact, a Google search readily identifies September 21 as World Gratitude Day, and I missed it... 51 times. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, either, because so far there's no Wikipedia entry for such a day. In any case, I don't want to wait for it to cycle around again before I finally act on the concept.
A day of gratitude can be marked in many different ways, but, whatever gratitude practices are employed, imagine how much good will and positive energy could be generated from a day during which billions of people across the globe make the conscious choice to be grateful - considering their blessings and giving thanks.
No Hallmark greeting cards. No shiny packages. No showy feasts with obligatory turkeys. No special sales at the mall. No perfectionistic guilt trips for not doing as much as your sister, friend, co-worker, or neighbor. And no judgement of others for not being grateful enough for what you believe they should be grateful about, either. Just authentic personal gratitude and whatever flows naturally from it. Perhaps a few random acts of kindness or creativity: a poem... a song... a bouquet... a drawing... a hug... a smile... a glass of water... a helping hand. For some, I suspect the day would also include include extended prayer or meditation. Mindfulness.
Yes, I know. Everyone won't do it, and there are lots of reasons not to.
But I still could.
So could you, if the idea holds any interest.
Why bother?
I suspect the best answer might come from trying it.
There are at least 363 additional days each year for focusing on other things. (And, for the record, I happen to love big Thanksgiving dinners, as well as parades, gifts, and fireworks.) I'm not arguing agains big celebrations.
We can complain and snipe at one another, find fault, and busy ourselves in every conceivable way on each of those days, if we want. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't fight against injustice. I don't believe in pretending that problems - including egregious problems - don't exist.
I just think an occasional day immersed in gratitude might help keep us from losing sight of some of the good which life offers us in abundance, even with its challenges.
It could be that Thanksgiving already serves this purpose for you--or Christmas or New Year's Day or a birthday or an anniversary of some kind. If not, maybe one of those holidays could become your gratitude day? You could choose any day.
How about tomorrow?
I'm gonna get my calendar...
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