Holiday Analysis (Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving has a few sides. To some people, Thanksgiving is about celebrating after harvesting all these different foods. That's what the holiday is supposed to be at least. And to others, Thanksgiving is about being thankful for life, and everything we have. It's about being grateful for living in the current situation you live in because as the famous quote of that day goes "others have it worse so be thankful you're living the way you are". But what is thanksgiving to those other people who do have it worse? What if they live on the streets? To them it's just another day for survival. Nothing new, same old. On this particular day , people start becoming nicer and donate food to the hungry/ poor. They cook up a nice meal and make sure they can enjoy what they please also. This part of thanksgiving teaches us to share and not be greedy. It teaches you to reach out to those who need it and to be the 'helping hand'. To some, Thanksgiving can also be religious. It can teach you to be thankful that God has provided you with everything you have. It teaches you that family and friends are important and that just being with them while sharing a meal all together is the most important thing. On this day, its not about all the things you have (well for the most part), its about all the people you can share your life with and how lucky you are to have them in your life.
I think the choice of music, participants, dress code, timing, activities, and food all depends on whose family/group of friends is celebrating it. But I'm sure for most people thanksgiving day makes people play the mellow or happy kind of music. It's not that popular to sit and listen to heavy metal or something that will end up making you sad or depressed or feeling lonely because thanksgiving is a time when you're really not supposed to be lonely. It should play the songs that kind of make you smile and make you think about how when it all comes down to it, life really is worth living (or at least thats the kind of spirit Thanksgiving gives to people). Participants of course as previously discussed already are most likely friends and family or people of great importance/ people your 'thankful' for. As for dress code. I wouldn't know how others dress for Thanksgiving but I know in my family, some of us dress laid back (everyday clothing but still making an effort to look nice) and some dress as if they're going to church. My family celebrates Thanksgiving around after the sun is starting to set. I have no idea why either. We don't do much besides eat and hang out with each other. Obviously Thanksgiving is a feast day (mainly because it's after everything has been harvested etc.) I guess the popular foods are pumpkin, turkey, squash, stuffing, etc. Rituals are either praying before you eat or probably going around in a circle to tell everyone out loud what you're thankful for in you're life. I guess on this day you're supposed to act as if you would when going to church (based on dress code because people at church either go casually or really nice, rarely dirty/messy). This holiday is supposed to make you become "thankful" but it kind of seems fake because if someones truly thankful, they would be everyday. Not just one day out of the year.
Thanksgiving is also known as "Genocide day". I read more about it from an article called "No Thanks to Thanksgiving". Published by Robert Jensen in 2005. Here is the link ( http://www.alternet.org/story/28584/ ) anyways, from this article, I read about the background of history of how thanksgiving "came to be". This article helped me learn that Thanksgiving day is also a day where the indigenous people "marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas." I had no idea Thanksgiving could also be a day of mourning and deep misery coming from way back when. I mean these people were slaughtered, forced out of their homes, died from diseases they weren't immune to, fought for their life, had their culture practically 'taken' from them, were forced to have new beliefs, etc and all because they trusted these people who played as their friends when in reality they were plotting against them the whole time.
Mainly the messages we receive on the 'good and meaningful life' don't support the messages Thanksgiving tells us about. Usually we're told money and nice clothing and being 'fresh' etc is everything. Thanksgiving tells us just to be grateful for what we have. It kind of says that what we have is good enough and to be happy with it. Not to be selfish or anything of that nature. I don't think this holiday is telling us to be our everyday selves. Instead to be better than that. For this one day, to act better than your normal self. To act as if God himself were watching us on this very day. Right then and there. To behave because that's what you're 'supposed' to do.

Trampled Wal-Mart Worker .. (Make Up)

After reading the article "Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede", I was truly disgusted. I can't imagine people that could be so selfish to take ones life and complain about how long they've been there and continue to shop. I find it kind of funny how one day people can be so nice and thankful and "appreciative" of life and the next day be completely greedy, selfish and act like savages. All of this to save a bit of money on worthless items to for mere entertainment. People will do absolutely anything to get things cheaper and it really is sad. People want more and more of whatever they can get because the more you have, 'the better off you are'. People do anything to get ahead, even if it means bashing someone else and taking their lives to get them behind themselves. Our culture is so caught up in materialistic things that they forget about their true values. It really is pathetic and I'm glad that I took no part in that day what so ever.

Black Friday ..(Make Up)

My black Friday was spent at a thanksgiving basketball tournament in the Bronx. After that I went straight home. I didn’t buy anything at all that day and it was for no particular reason at all. So I guess I participated in ‘Buy Nothing Day’ unintentionally. Although the only real reason I didn’t shop on black Friday was because I really hate huge crowds of mean people. It’s like a crowded train cart, only in malls and any shopping area you can find. Everything gets hectic and crazy. Anyway, black Friday is supposed to be a day where people save loads of cash because just about everything goes on sale. It’s supposed to be the day where if you couldn’t afford to buy something before, well now you can. Only people tend to take complete advantage of it. They buy more unnecessary items and ultimately end up spending more cash. So the only one’s making profit are the stores. It’s just another way for corporate media to take over our lives. But what does this say about how to live a meaningful life? It repeats the dominant message that people should buy and get more things because obviously they don’t have enough. It argues that some of these things might make you happier; you can finally afford the things you want and need. It makes it seem as if corporate media is looking out for your best interest. But is this living a good and meaningful life? I guess it would depend on how one defines it to be. Having loads of crap isn’t (to me) living the good life. I do see how it makes people happy, but it’s not exactly living your life meaningfully.

Thanksgiving Day .. (Make-Up)

This year my thanksgiving was alright. Usually I spend it with my two sisters, my father, and whole family. This year both sisters made plans so I and my dad were on our own. We chose to go to my Aunts house which was where majority of the family was spending it. It wasn't really all that fun because as usual all the grownups were drinking and being louder than normal which I found to be highly obnoxious.

Everyone conversed the whole night and unsurprisingly Genocide was not a topic brought up for discussion. Once everyone was at my Aunts house, we actually all held hands in a circle and went around saying things we were grateful for (my least favorite part of thanksgiving). By this time half of my family members were drunk so the answers were a bit more entertaining than usual. This was a ritual done every year, and every year I take this part of the evening as a joke. Every time I hold hands in a circle, I never close my eyes and instead I like to watch everyone else close theirs. I like to read reactions. I even often laugh at everyone and think about how weird the whole thing is. I don’t think we should have a specific day to be thankful about our lives. If anything we should be thankful everyday not just one day out of the year. I think in this sense the whole day is kind of fake. It’s not living our lives meaningful if we are only thankful one day and not every day. But I kind of like the whole idea of being thankful for everything we have in our lives instead of being greedy and wanting everything we don’t have in order to make us happy. I think it’s funny that the very next day is Black Friday and everything we pretended to be thankful for the day before completely goes out the window and people become greedy and needy. I don’t see the point at all.

Christmas Break

I used to base my whole year around Christmas. Back then, it was my favorite holiday hands down. Mornings were spent with siblings. Evenings were with relatives. Food, gifts, and one big party. Nothing was better than that. I soon came to see Christmas through a new light. It was one of the few times everyone in our family came together to hang out and have fun. Catch up on recent news and exchange numbers once again. It was heartwarming to see everyone get along. Everyone so young, happy, and full of joy. Life was good, or so it seemed. As everyone grew up, we learned different.
This Christmas was spent upstate. Somewhere I didn’t want to be. As ritualized gifts were received, food was provided, and so were fake smiles. Everyone wanted to be somewhere else. I was thankful but annoyed. Christmas, now, only seemed to be about who got what from who. It was pretty pathetic. No one wanted to spend time with each other anymore; everyone was just waiting for the gifts. After that, they left. Even all my friends greeted me with a ‘Merry Christmas; What did you get?’ As if it mattered. It was just this Christmas where I found out the whole idea of Santa Claus was contrived by Coca Cola. It was all a scheme that carried on with us for some of our childhood years. It’s funny now that I think about it. I used to behave extra good because I wanted gifts from Santa but turns out it was all a lie. The whole idea of Christmas is phony. I never understood why on Jesus’ birthday we give and receive gifts to and from people. To be honest I’d be pretty upset if on my birthday people exchanged gifts to each other while I got nothing. Shouldn’t we be at the very least honoring him? What’s the sense in that. And the whole idea of some guy in a red suit with a white beard, big belly, and bag full of gifts. Doesn’t that sound a bit creepy. I mean, this is a complete stranger braking into your house to leave you gifts. Then you have people imitating him on the streets. Walking around dressed up in a red suit and fake white beard. Funny thing is, most of them are asking for money. The others are just there to say Merry Christmas in the malls but funny thing is, as legend has it. You’re not supposed to see Santa. So... I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get it. The way I see it, you have the corporate media using Santa as a way for ‘entertainment’ to make you go to the stores and buy useless shit. It’s a bit ridiculous. As seen in the movie ‘Elf’, Christmas is supposed to be based on faith and believing (even though it’s not real). I guess the whole idea of not being able to see him makes it all much more exciting, but then again .. what do I know?