There’s always room for giving thanks

So many people I know are giving a big sigh of relief today that Thanksgiving is over. Not so, me. It and the Winter Solstice are truly my favorite Holidays. Thanksgiving is about family, love, abundance, sharing. It is a time for gathering your loved ones around you and holding them tightly. For the last 4 years I have gathered with a small group of friends who have become my family. One of our crew moved this year and we felt her absence. I feel so lucky to have people I love, people to cook for. It is important to me to get out the good china, the nice tablecloth. Our feast is a potluck and I know I can taste the love.Yes, it is about food as well, which for me translates to being about the cooking. We had only 2 meat eaters at our feast and I cooked a whole, all be it small, turkey. I will happily have leftovers for some time.

I give thanks for all the love in my life, my family who has known me since birth, my friends whom I cherish, and my larger communities I am blessed to be a part of. I am lucky to belong to a world wide circle of people who live the way of Huichol Shamanism, and I am also lucky to belong to a large online community of personal chefs, many of whom I have gotten to meet in the last year.

I give thanks for the skills and talents the Creator gave me which allows me to love the work that I do. I give thanks to our Earth Mother for all the beautiful food She blesses us with, and all those who labor to bring it to our tables.

I pray for those who are hungry, who will be cold this winter, and those who are lost and lonely. I get to pick and choose what it is I feel like eating tomorrow. I get to sleep in a great bed tonight. I have a fire burning in my fireplace.

I give thanks.