Breathe
By Begoña Sieiro
The word "thanksgiving" as such could be literally translated to: thanking. The action of being in a continuous thanksgiving. It does not remain only in the fact of being thankful, as the Spanish name of this date limits it to -Thanksgiving Day- but it invites to turn it into a continuum that does not stop. It is a state. In English there is the conjugation of verbs in the so-called 'present continuous', which is a tense that, in a way, continues to happen without being finite; it is, basically, an action-state. In Spanish it is difficult to match it; we do not have a conjugation in which the action continues to happen without using another verb previously, such as estar or sentir. Hence the translation in our language of the Thanksgiving holiday requires the word 'action' in its name.
We already know that History with a capital h is a combination of events and evocations with a bit of well-told lies. The origins of American Thanksgiving are no exception, and while we can't entirely get away from the fact that the painting of a large shared table full of food harvested jointly by the Pilgrims and Native American Indians is an idea probably quite far removed from reality, the tradition it has brought since the 1600s is quite salvageable; it carries an ultra-relevant meaning for a world society in which little value is placed on what we possess "out of the box" and in which priority is given to material goods, work and a modern life in which there is little time left to stop and, therefore, to be grateful for what is, what one has, what there is or is not. (Let's forget, also please, that in the USA this date is more and more focused on selling/buying than on being thankful, and let's rescue the concrete action of gathering around a table to be thankful for what has been harvested during the year and for the people with whom we share it). In Mexico we have adopted many of the traditions of our northern neighbor: Santa Claus, Halloween and Valentine's Day. I wondered why, Thanksgiving being the most profound, evocative and beautiful of them all -in my opinion- has not become part of our culture yet.
Perhaps these reflections arise from a very personal experience that I will share briefly: at the end of 2021, in the middle of the pandemic and the closest I have ever felt to the idea of the end of the world, I myself decided to lead my life towards a revolution. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and for some inexplicable and fortunate reason I was able to see that it was not others that were the cause of that discomfort, but my own decisions and way of living. I decided to see everything from a different point of view, to change my eyes, to question and to look into much of what I had previously rejected. From 2022 onwards I allowed myself to be someone else; I closed doors that had been open all my life, I set limits that I thought were impossible, I broke windows that were closed and I looked out without fear (or with fear, but I did it anyway). I discovered a side of me that I considered non-existent until then: the side that believed in the magic of living.
And it's ironic because I can assure you that the only secret ingredient in all of that was gratitude. The ability to feel grateful throughout the whole process. When you are up or down or in between. The continuous action of being/living in gratitude, that famed thanksgiving. The state of gratitude or living in gratitude allows you to see everything that happens in your life, provoked or unexpected, as a stepping stone style to stop suffering when something hurts or makes you uncomfortable. Thanksgiving' is a state full of magic that can actually feel very natural.
That is why this day, which in theory began as an excuse to share a feast and give thanks for some important event in nature or in the community, I think it is crucial to rescue it and make it our own. Or at least stop on it and make a count of everything you can be thankful for in your year, in your life, in your person and in the short existence that is now.
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