[Published: Thanksgiving 2020] Last weekend, after receiving (precautionary) negative Covid tests, my spunky 86 year old mother-in-law came for a visit – her first visit since last November 2019. I was setting the table for a traditional Thanksgiving feast when my husband (who does all the cooking) asked why I hadn’t included the pilgrim figurines gifted to me years ago.
I answered with “it’s a pandemic, they’re afraid to come out.” My mother-in-law laughed and suggested we tie little masks on them. Well now, that sounded like fun. I dug the pilgrims out, tied a mask on the woman, turned while talking with flailing hands (I do this), and proceeded to knock the male figurine over, beheading him. We laughed, but inside I thought, “how fitting.”
Thanksgiving as we all know by now is a holiday based on a story of the Plymouth colonists, who in 1621, shared an autumn harvest feast with the Wampanoag Native Americans, that allegedly signified unity, gratitude, and respect. A narrative I was fed in grade school and has become another ‘truth’ in a long line of truths, told to condition a population of people (white people) in support of being superior to indigenous people and people of color.
By all means, be thankful and gather safely, but my wish for you, during a year like none other, is to see this holiday differently – not through the lens of commercialism, hallmark cards, and history books, but through the lens of self-conditioning, rather than social-conditioning.
As you contemplate what you’re thankful for, perhaps take a moment to also ponder these questions:
- What narratives have you been conditioned to believe?
- What narratives, as a woman, are leading you?
- What historical narratives are you teaching your children?
- What narratives can you shift by saying “no”, I’m not doing that anymore?
- What’s true for you?
- What matters most to you?
- What’s most important to you?
One of the greatest gifts I received by slowing down and stopping the insanity of attempting to be superwoman (being it all to everyone), is the gift of spaciousness…the mental space to question my thoughts and like an archeologist on a dig – shovel away dirt that is hiding the origin of beliefs unwittingly adopted.
On this day of Giving Thanks, I’m truly thankful for you – for reading what I write and in all honesty for sticking with me through twists and turns, as I navigate the outer/online world and my inner world, fostering soul-aligned success for myself and my clients too.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” -Author Unknown
Wishing you a day filled with memories and dreaming of your vision for tomorrow.
Ubuntu (I am because you are),
Suzy
