/ˌTHaNGksˈɡiviNG/ & /ˈɡradəˌto͞od/

Thanksgiving is celebrated in my family. It’s always been a time to gather and eat traditional comfort foods, there was never any intention around celebrating what we’re grateful for. As I’ve aged, I’ve cultivated this practice. In anticipation of this year’s Thanksgiving, I looked up the actual definitions of Thanksgiving and gratitude according to the Oxford Languages:

thanks·giv·ing /ˌTHaNGksˈɡiviNG/noun

• 1. the expression of gratitude, especially to God.

• 2. (in North America) an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, and is held in the US on the fourth Thursday in November.

grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌto͞od/noun

• the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

I was surprised that thanksgiving is about an expression of gratitude to God. This was missed on me with my Catholic upbringing and my family culture! And that gratitude is an act of returning kindness, not only offering appreciation.

After several months of vestibular issues, this Thanksgiving Season, I am deeply grateful for my sense of balance and security as I move through the world, to the many practitioners and loved ones who have offered support, for having healthcare, for a vocation that offers flexibility and meaningful work, to the clients who choose Coriander Living Collective, and to our bodies’ innate wisdom of wanting to heal and be whole. Health is so important. It’s about ongoing choices and practices that support your whole person system.

Coriander Living Collective encourages living with intention and cultivating connection is one of its core values. This Thanksgiving Season, for those you appreciate, may you show them with acts of kindness and may you be able to express your gratitude to whatever holds you and your beliefs beyond this plane. Ojala!

Wishing you all health and healing this Thanksgiving Season. 🙏