Sunday, October 10, 2010

Canadian Thanksgiving

Living in a different country has caused me to understand Thanksgiving in a new way this year. Puck and I have been hearing some different opinions on Columbus Day around here and wondered aloud, "is Canada's Thanksgiving in celebration of Columbus?" I know at 38 I the answer to this should be immediate. But the truth is in the past, Thanksgiving always meant to me a day to sit in gratitude for all that I was blessed with. Truly, I had never wondered beyond that.

This year, I did and here's what I uncovered, in nutshell,


Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Jour de l'Action de grĂ¢ce), occurring on the second Monday in October (since 1959), is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. (from Wikipedia)

There ya have it, I can get down with those origins and am once again proud of my Canadian roots.

With this ever subtle shift, so has come a shift in how I have been reflecting on my gratitude. Don't get me wrong, I am still drop to my knees grateful for the freedom that is mine each and everyday. And that the worries that plague my mind have nothing to do with personal safety, poverty or failing health.  And that the love I have in my life multiplies with ever breath I take. And .. and .. and

Today my reflections took me to consider what I had harvested that I am grateful for at the end of this season. What seeds did I plant, tend to and harvest?

So here's my this years, Thanksgiving Thankful list with a new spin

I am thankful for a courageous husband who said yes to a journey that has pushed me to the very edges of my own comforts so I could blossom.

I am thankful for the friends I sought out and opened my heart to so I could experience the support that comes from walking the talk.

I am thankful for children's confident in who they are continually pushing me to examine my own issues in order to shed the stories that no longer serve me.

I am thankful for the opportunity to sit in quiet reflection and quietly tend my internal garden that is continually growing my wildest dreams.

I am thankful for an unfolding heart that is strong enough to seek connection in the least expected places.

To to all my Canadian and Non-Canadian friends may you to sit in reflection of all that you have harvested this season.

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