Thank you!

It’s that time of year again… we get out our pie pans, the turkey, the yams, and of course, the wine. It’s the time of year when we celebrate Thanksgiving. While I am thoroughly convinced that this holiday is probably one of the biggest lies the government has fed us, I appreciate the sentiment behind it. I think giving thanks is important. And food, that shit is important!

What’s always bothered me about Thanksgiving is that it laregly serves as a signpost to tell us that Christmas is coming. Turkey – eh… Presents – hell yeah! It saddens my heart to think that Thanksgiving has really no significance other than gluttony. It’s almost 4th of July in November: an excuse for Americans to celebrate the glorified history of the best country on the face of earth (this is proven right?) by stuffing their faces with turkey instead of hot dogs and then bringing down the Christmas tree instead of watching fireworks. (Both can include large amounts of alcohol depending on who your family is… or rather how they make you feel)

But I mean, I have never fought to save Thanksgiving. I think giving thanks should be apart of our lives all the time so why dedicate one day to it? I was raised as a polite kid: say your please’s and thank you’s and mind your p’s and q’s. I have to admit that as of recent years, I have wanted to skip any kind of holiday that forces you to sit around and be persecuted by your family or any other kind of family interaction for that matter. Afterall, isn’t Christmas enough torture for me to suffer through? Thanksgiving for me has become the warm up for the awkwardness that comes around in December when the passive aggressive gifts are given and Grandma drinks a little too much and tells me how she really feels about me and everyone else for that matter.

This year, I decided to throw all that out. While cramming for a test this week (it’s truly is an art form) I came across an article from my Rhetoric class that presented an interesting concept. William Miller wrote this book called Faking It. The basic premise is that if we fake emotions that we are supposed to have, they can become a reality. Fake loving your annoying neighbor can lead to real love for that human being. I never really thought of doing something like that. It seems like something a liar would do to be honest. But there is merit to wanting to feel the RIGHT emotion, especially at times like, oh say, Thanksgiving… I should be thankful. That’s all there is to it. My family is not perfect or any where close to normal. But they feed me and pay for my college. They give a free room to sleep in. That’s pretty basic and essential and I should be thankful.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m swallowing my pride. I am going to chose love. I am going to chose happiness over anger. I am going to be thankful. Whether there is turkey or not, I will eat with my family and enjoy them. It’s what Thanksgiving is about… faking it. And maybe one day growing to really give thanks the right way – authentically.