Thinking Symbolic Thoughts
Poor Thanksgiving. It's been mostly stampeded out of the public consciousness (except for the NFL, which uses it as a rationale for the continued existence of the Detroit Lions) by early Christmas shopping. Smartasses get off on pointing out that the actual holiday didn't come about until the 1860s. And someone out there invented, and continues to produce, tofurkey.
(There is nothing on God's green Earth quite like the aroma of slightly overdone imitation soy turkey. Nothing. If Lovecraft had smelled that, Cthulhu would have had red neck wattles.)
So I get it. It's an artificial holiday, insufficiently commercial for the "ZOMG Q4 SALES ARE DOWN 1.2% THROUGH THE FIRST TWELVE MINUTES" world we live in, and it's a shame to eat birds that Benjamin Franklin liked better than bald eagles. No, seriously. I get it.
That being said, the notion of appreciation for what you have is, I think, context- (and turkey-) independent. The idea of taking a day to look around and be thankful for what one has, instead of constantly looking to what's next, what's new, what's wanted - that's a good one, I think.
I've got a lot to be thankful for. A good life with a wife I admire and adore, a family I love deeply whom I get to see on a regular basis, a challenging and interesting job that gives me opportunities to do things I'd ne'er have had the gumption to try on my own, dear friends and respected professional colleagues, a roof over my head and food in the fridge and cats who've never pooped in my shoes - it's quite a list.
So I'm going to sit here for a moment, and appreciate all that I'm lucky enough to have and share, and hope that folks reading this have plenty to be thankful for as well. Even the Detroit Lions.
(There is nothing on God's green Earth quite like the aroma of slightly overdone imitation soy turkey. Nothing. If Lovecraft had smelled that, Cthulhu would have had red neck wattles.)
So I get it. It's an artificial holiday, insufficiently commercial for the "ZOMG Q4 SALES ARE DOWN 1.2% THROUGH THE FIRST TWELVE MINUTES" world we live in, and it's a shame to eat birds that Benjamin Franklin liked better than bald eagles. No, seriously. I get it.
That being said, the notion of appreciation for what you have is, I think, context- (and turkey-) independent. The idea of taking a day to look around and be thankful for what one has, instead of constantly looking to what's next, what's new, what's wanted - that's a good one, I think.
I've got a lot to be thankful for. A good life with a wife I admire and adore, a family I love deeply whom I get to see on a regular basis, a challenging and interesting job that gives me opportunities to do things I'd ne'er have had the gumption to try on my own, dear friends and respected professional colleagues, a roof over my head and food in the fridge and cats who've never pooped in my shoes - it's quite a list.
So I'm going to sit here for a moment, and appreciate all that I'm lucky enough to have and share, and hope that folks reading this have plenty to be thankful for as well. Even the Detroit Lions.
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