Thanksgiving Is Not About a Meal, It’s About Gratitude

Here it comes! For many, it’s the busiest most stressful time of the year. Thanksgiving has, in many cases, been more about stuffing ourselves in preparation for Black Friday! It’s like the kickoff to Christmas which is barely still about Christ. Time to reboot friends!

This year try taking the artful approach to this day of counting your blessings. Artfulness is about creativity and creativity is about being open to new ideas and originality. If Thanksgiving is all about cooking a big turkey and the delight of a family or friends coming over, well, you go for it.

But, if this day has become overwhelming, if you have been dealing with life’s issues, possibly an aging loved one, or work stress, well then, time for a new game plan. Order the turkey with all the trimmings, or go a simpler route. The most important thing is to communicate your plan or need to push tradition aside for a more manageable one this year. In the process, you may just have given yourself the time to make it fun!

Step one. Relax. There are no T-Day police and if any of your family or friends want to play that game, tell them they are missing the meaning of gratitude, love, and affection.

Step two. Have fun! With step one checked off, it’s time to have some fun. Thanksgiving came as a result of a harvest festival. No one required a bird of any kind, but you can do fun things like serving your guests those turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches you usually make with leftovers! Maybe make them into a wrap. Sure, you can have other goodies, but just tell everyone you want to do something different this year. You don’t have to break with tradition every year, but let them know you don’t want to be in the pressure cooker this year.

Step Three, Give thanks! Give every one of your guests a card telling them how much you appreciate them. Make the day about gratitude!

Live an artful life,
Tom

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