November & Gratitude

Original Post found here on Patreon

If you've been following along on our Facebook page or group, you have probably seen our series of posts on Decolonizing Abundance and Gratitude! This is digging in and finding out how we can change our outlook on Thanksgiving as we know it in most colonial countries today. All cultures have thanksgiving celebrations and I want more than anything for all people to find their own culture, ancestors rituals and beliefs surrounding the topic of gratitude. 

Those ancestors who were indigenous to Turtle Island have passed down so many various ways in which we show gratitude. We don't just do it one day a year to celebrate a fake meal 400 years ago to show that our country pretends to know what being grateful for food means. We give thanks before every meal, we give thanks every time we get to see loved ones and gather together, we give thanks for everyday we get to spend on this Earth. 

My grandmother counted her days by saying "Si Dios Quiere" - "God Willing" and I didn't understand it to mean that "God gives her every day she has" but that she is here, present and grateful to be alive and if she isn't tomorrow or in six months at our next holiday gathering then at least we have done the most with our time in this physical body. Every good thing that happened small or large was followed with a "Gracias a Dios" and I understood the gratitude in her voice. 

I have made it my task as a human and parent to stop and investigate these things that I learned. My grandmother lives with gratitude in her heart and I knew it, but who was she grateful to? A Catholic God? Is that my desire? No, but at the end of the day, she lived her life as a generous and loving mother and grandmother and took care of anyone who needed it. She was a curandera (indigenous Mexican healer) and grew her own medicine. Does the name of her God change the lessons she taught me? Maybe, but for me, I don't need to take my children to any church to teach them these values. 

This is decolonizing gratitude for myself and my family. Examine the source and find the meaning and true values. Step away from the systems of guilt and religion that we know still had the power to control our ancestors lives in many harmful ways and find your own places to create the kind of community you wish to see in this world. 

Whether you do or do not celebrate Thanksgiving, even if it's just a meal, family time or a day off work, I would encourage you to start digging into your own families traditions and investigate them. Talk to your elders. Even better ask young and old family members to talk about gratitude while you just listen.