I’d like to take a moment to thank all of my readers...
Thank you so very much!
For without your amazing support, I would still be lost, wandering around in the dark and may never have found continued passion and fulfillment in what I do. Additionally, I’d like to apologize for not expressing my appreciation more often. Once a year isn’t quite often enough to say your thank you’s and to show your appreciation for the important things in life.
Thanksgiving’s original purpose - like most holidays - has lost a lot of its original meaning. Instead of offer a year-long lingering feeling of gratefulness and connection with all those you love, it’s been replaced with shiny, pretty little things to distract us from the good. Football, turkey and stuffing is not how Thanksgiving started, nor what it was meant to become. Thanksgiving isn't about black friday or the competition of who can buy the most junk for the absolute cheapest price. It's about spending time with those you love and giving back to all others that need it most, and to be thankful for everything that you have.
Thank you so very much!
For without your amazing support, I would still be lost, wandering around in the dark and may never have found continued passion and fulfillment in what I do. Additionally, I’d like to apologize for not expressing my appreciation more often. Once a year isn’t quite often enough to say your thank you’s and to show your appreciation for the important things in life.
Thanksgiving’s original purpose - like most holidays - has lost a lot of its original meaning. Instead of offer a year-long lingering feeling of gratefulness and connection with all those you love, it’s been replaced with shiny, pretty little things to distract us from the good. Football, turkey and stuffing is not how Thanksgiving started, nor what it was meant to become. Thanksgiving isn't about black friday or the competition of who can buy the most junk for the absolute cheapest price. It's about spending time with those you love and giving back to all others that need it most, and to be thankful for everything that you have.
The same unfortunate fate has likewise been shared throughout other holidays, like that of Christmas. Christmas was originally one of the most important religious holidays in the world, and in some parts of the world it has now been replaced largely by materialism (at its worst), decoration competitions, spiked eggnog and ham. Did you know that Halloween was once a Christian holiday that had nothing to do with costumes, candy or horror films, and there was no trick and no treat? Another major religious holiday is Easter and it has also fallen ill to a similar fate. Do you believe that rabbits, eggs or chocolate really had anything at all to do with the original meaning of Easter?
As the world becomes a smaller place with the adaptation of the internet and the advancement of technology, so has the endemic fire spread with materialism and greed. America has become the breeding grounds and is by far the worst of the problem. Family, friends and relationships are consistently overshadowed by self-driven priorities. Even though the problem is growing world round, there are still places in the world that are relatively untouched, filled with people and families who celebrate life to its fullest.
While traveling abroad in the countries of Ireland and Italy, the most surprising yet glorious aspect that I witnessed was that of the importance of family. In these countries, unrivaled anywhere else in the States, family was celebrated to the fullest extent. Weekly, if not nightly gatherings are consistent traditions, where they would always include the entire family, those that were local and those who are distant. I was lucky enough to be invited as an honorary member of a family in Co. Kerry, Ireland. Firsthand, I felt the strength and the power and the love of family when it is rightly appreciated and celebrated. I felt a twinge of envy though, as I have never had such a wonderful connection and experience within my own.
The point is to remember why we have holidays to begin with, it’s not just to have a day off of work or school. So on this day and on all holidays, I plead you to encourage others (and yourself) to become truly thankful and to celebrate the real reason for the holidays. The world has become an ever mounting consensus of greedy, selfish and soulless behavior, and it’s growing at an alarming rate. My biggest fear is that nobody will notice or care, and no effort will ever be made for positive change and personal improvement. Then the end result will be our everlasting doom, as we will likely parish in the wake of our own manmade world of corruption.
(Photo via www.taiganfinds.com)
As the world becomes a smaller place with the adaptation of the internet and the advancement of technology, so has the endemic fire spread with materialism and greed. America has become the breeding grounds and is by far the worst of the problem. Family, friends and relationships are consistently overshadowed by self-driven priorities. Even though the problem is growing world round, there are still places in the world that are relatively untouched, filled with people and families who celebrate life to its fullest.
While traveling abroad in the countries of Ireland and Italy, the most surprising yet glorious aspect that I witnessed was that of the importance of family. In these countries, unrivaled anywhere else in the States, family was celebrated to the fullest extent. Weekly, if not nightly gatherings are consistent traditions, where they would always include the entire family, those that were local and those who are distant. I was lucky enough to be invited as an honorary member of a family in Co. Kerry, Ireland. Firsthand, I felt the strength and the power and the love of family when it is rightly appreciated and celebrated. I felt a twinge of envy though, as I have never had such a wonderful connection and experience within my own.
The point is to remember why we have holidays to begin with, it’s not just to have a day off of work or school. So on this day and on all holidays, I plead you to encourage others (and yourself) to become truly thankful and to celebrate the real reason for the holidays. The world has become an ever mounting consensus of greedy, selfish and soulless behavior, and it’s growing at an alarming rate. My biggest fear is that nobody will notice or care, and no effort will ever be made for positive change and personal improvement. Then the end result will be our everlasting doom, as we will likely parish in the wake of our own manmade world of corruption.
(Photo via www.taiganfinds.com)
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