As I’m sure you all know, this past Thursday was Thanksgiving. I find Thanksgiving to be a very interesting holiday because people all across America celebrate it, regardless of their religious beliefs. There are many ways to celebrate this day such as watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, playing a game of football (or watching for those who don’t wish to play), playing games or talking with family and friends, and of course eating a big turkey dinner. However, these aren’t the only ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, and how you choose to spend your holiday can reveal some aspects of your identity.
Just by talking to my friends and seeing what they did for Thanksgiving, I realized that there are a lot of different ways to celebrate holidays. Some went to a relative’s house, some celebrated with neighbors, some had family or friends over to their house, and my family just kept it simple, stayed home, and stayed in our pajamas all day. The different people that we choose to spend our holidays with show the relationships that we highly value in our lives. For instance, my family greatly values closeness within our immediate family, so with my brother home from college we chose to just celebrate as a small family. My friend has many relatives that live in the area, so it is a tradition for them to all gather at one person’s house as a huge group and celebrate together. For others, this important relationship may be with the family next door that they have become very close with, so they choose to celebrate with them.
The different people we choose to surround ourselves with and the things we choose to do on important days such as Thanksgiving show something about us. For instance, I am more comfortable in smaller groups of people, so I celebrated with just my immediate family. I also enjoy just relaxing as a means of entertainment, so my family and I watched a movie together and played a game. However, being part of a family means that you aren’t always going to get your way and sometimes you will have to step outside of your comfort zone on a holiday to make other people happy. There are years that we travel on thanksgiving to go celebrate with a larger group of people, and because I am part of a family, I need to accept that. So, even though we all have personal preferences for how we would like to spend our holidays, sometimes you need to take a step outside your comfort zone to be with the people who make you who you are.
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