By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP
Thanksgiving Day is almost here – the time when we are encouraged to gather and to give thanks. These are times when we typically mention what we are personally thankful for, perhaps friends and family, or good health, or a health challenge that we have escaped, or a sweet pet, or some other fortunate experience. When a friend and colleague recently shared on social media what is commonly known as the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, I was again reminded that other cultures look at gratitude quite differently. Haudenosaunee – pronounced who-DIN-oh-show-nee -- is also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations that includes Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora. Robin Wall Kimmerer included a version of this address in her lyrical best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass, after being assured by Oren Lyons, the Faithkeeper within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in northeast North America, that its use would be valuable. He is reported to have replied, "Of course you should write about it. It's supposed to be shared, otherwise how can it work? We've been waiting for 500 years for people to listen. If they'd understood the Thanksgiving then, we wouldn't be in this mess.” Here is the address, written in an interactive style. Perhaps you would like to read it before your Thanksgiving meal, or early in the day or later in the evening. Or any time.
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This is the time of year when talk of gratitude is everywhere. I believe in the power of gratitude to change our lives and support our well-being, and I like to write about gratitude, especially at Thanksgiving. This year, however, I’ve asked my good friend Alan Swanson to permit me to re-publish his lovely essay about gratitude, food and blessings. By Alan Swanson
The importance of gratitude cannot be overstated. It is a fundamental aspect of our true nature. Expressing gratitude for the food before us is an opportunity to experience that nature. Such an expression is transformative – producing a scientifically observable change that takes place within the food we eat and the water we drink. This becomes a way of attuning to the earth environment of which we are a part. By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP
Thanksgiving is more than a day on the calendar. It is a spiritual practice that challenges us to look for the good in the days, indeed the moments, of our lives. In times of trouble, this practice of finding moments of gratitude seems extra challenging. For many people, these times are fearful, scary and uncertain. The question is: Can we still find gratitude? Ironically, these are the very times where finding and acknowledging gratitude is necessary for our health and well being. Gratitude gives us the energy to live, thrive and love. It is not so much an action that promotes complacency – although it could if we take the narrow view of it. Rather, gratitude is an action stimulates us to find the good wherever we are and gives us the motivation to share the good in our world. There are many ideas about how to promote gratitude and I’ve written about some of them through the years – keeping a gratitude journal or a gratitude box, for example. |
AuthorKaren Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP, is an author, trainer and psychotherapist who promotes, practices and teaches experiential methods including psychodrama, Family and Systemic Constellations, sand tray, mindfulness and Tarot imagery. Archives
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