Can you smell it? With thousands of turkeys (or tofurkeys) ready to roast in our ovens, the air seems to have taken on the aroma of Thanksgiving. While this might be a comfort to some, Thanksgiving is my least-favourite holiday. Coming from a very small family, Thanksgiving has always seemed like more of a hassle than it’s worth: you spend hours preparing an elaborate meal, you eat off of the good china, you wash said good china in a two-hour china recovery process, then you sit around and try to act extra gracious around the same three people you eat with every weekend anyways. It’s just too much pressure. And for what?
While it’s obvious to be thankful for things like family, friends, food, and home, I think that we too often neglect to pay homage to the little things. If we’re lucky enough to have life’s necessities taken care of, why shouldn’t we take time to be grateful for things that we have to fight for in our day-to-day? Take a step up Maslow’s pyramid and give props to your creativity, your self-esteem, your confidence, your Netflix on demand. Even if you can’t find a Hallmark card that mentions them, these things are still important to you and deserve a little credit.
That’s why this year I’ll be doing Thanksgiving with a twist. Sure, I’ll still show up for the family dinner, and I’ll still wash the dishes after. But before the family awkward-fest starts, I’m going to take some time for myself to be thankful for the other things I care about. I’m going to give props to Diet Coke, and pop culture, and poetry; I’m going to feast on cheap-and-easy Lean Cuisines and then I’m going to clean up by throwing it all in the garbage.
Now there’s something to be thankful for.
-Sharon Miki
