Thanksgiving

By Suzanne Molnar

Forget the cheesy elementary school costumes. Drop your revisionist thoughts about Pilgrim history. Let go of any Thanksgiving-related guilt about what you have done or not done in past years. O.K.?

Now, if you would like to, briefly visit a couple of pleasant associations. Maybe it's the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking. Maybe it's the absolute luxury, when you are 9 years old, of four whole days off from school. Maybe it's some Thanksgiving gathering that created a happy memory. Good.

So let's settle into gratitude, appreciation. Breathe. (If you can breathe, that right there is something to appreciate.) So breathe again, slowly. And let's think about what else there is to appreciate.

A modern take on Norman Rockwell.

Very basically, there is this (credit to Kurt Vonnegut): "I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud." Note the incredible variety of things around us--to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to touch. Look at the graceful and functional line where a wall meets a ceiling. Watch a blue jay fly and hear it squawk. Touch wood, plush, water.

Now visit the human and animal warmth you have experienced. Parents aren't perfect, but those who raised us did at least a few lovely things. Partners, friends, pets--appreciate some of the beauty they have brought you. Take some time to do that.

And now think with gratitude of all the comforts and richness people have created. Do you love to read? Think about all that has been written which gives you pleasure, stimulation, inspiration. Are you snuggly warm? Think about all that inventors and craftspeople have done to make that possible. Have you survived illnesses or injuries thanks to medical discoveries and health care workers? Are your pains eased by medications? Are they eased by loving phone calls, texts, e-mails?

Finally, do you need to re-read this blog, editing out caveats? We always can wish some things to be different, but there is little downside to focusing instead on what is good. At least at this moment.

Happy Thanksgiving!