Happy Thanksgiving and Native American Reflection to everyone. I always try to use this season as a time to reflect on the abundance in my life and give gratitude for all that surrounds me. From nature and birds to my family and friends, I realize I have a lot to be thankful for, even when it feels like darkness has taken over so many parts of the world and this nation.
I am thankful for the ability to laugh … at myself and the funny situations around me. As I get older, it has become easier and easier to become super-serious about the world. I am a political scientist who reads and writes about politics every day, so you can see how some of the levity can be sucked out of my spirit. However, I am so thankful that I surround myself with people who do not allow me to take myself (or life in general) too seriously.
In trying to retain the levity, I am so thankful this holiday season that I am focusing on experiences and not things. I do not have a desire to buy lots of miscellaneous items in the hopes that they will make me happy. What I have found is that quality time with friends and family is what I am truly thankful for.
The day after the presidential election, I treated myself to a walk in Central Park with a dear friend. We took our binoculars and watched birds while meandering in nature. Quality time in nature is truly a gift I continue to give myself, and I am so thankful I am prioritizing time with friends in nature to just be.
I am convening with my family this Thanksgiving and am in charge of making the oxtails and the sweet potato pies. This Thanksgiving, I will be with both of my parents. I recognize that many people my age are moving through grief each holiday season, looking at a now-empty chair where a loved one once sat. As my family prepares for the years ahead, we are creating new traditions, playing new card games, and outsourcing some of the cooking by ordering from restaurants so we can spend more quality time together rather than several days in the kitchen.
However you choose to spend this holiday season, I hope gratitude is the focus. I think we know that money doesn’t equal happiness (even if it does smooth a bumpy road). It is time with loved ones and the tiny things in life that truly make us who we are. This year, I am grateful to focus on all of the abundance that surrounds me — good health, true friends, loving family members, and so much more. Happy Thanksgiving.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.