Room at the Table: Giving Thanks for Strange Sides
The beauty of Thanksgiving, or any holiday, isn’t in the delicious dishes (the ones that actually make sense), it’s in the people who bring them. Friends. Family. Neighbors. New faces who become familiar ones. When we pull up chairs, set extra plates, and welcome everyone as they are, something incredible happens. We have the chance to engage in richer conversations, even if we don’t always agree.
5 Steps to Practicing Thanksgiving Year-Round
Gratitude isn’t just a holiday feeling—it’s a mindset that transforms our mental well-being, strengthens relationships, and builds resilience. By finding joy in the little things, creating year-round rituals, and acting on thankfulness, we can carry the magic of gratitude far beyond the holiday season.
Thanksgiving: The Case for Gratitude
For many of us who work in the sometimes polarizing world of higher education, where the culture is competitive and the pace can be punishing, gratitude is kind of like a big, fancy dinner: it’s a cool idea, but it’s really hard to make time for. Luckily, many of us get a whole 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving, a holiday with thankfulness literally built into the name.
Thankfully, Words Do Have Meaning
We’ve gotten used to a filtered version of reality, one where we can speak our opinions without seeing the immediate effects our words had on others. The thing is, though, our words do have an effect. They impact other people. They can hurt. They can comfort. They are powerful.
Thanksgiving: Meditations on Turkey and Tolerance
After spending an unusually extended time away from family and friends, there are bound to be some hiccups when we all get together again. To help prepare for any potential awkwardness, consider the following…
Earning Courage
“Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell