Isolation Imagination: Twists and turns for Thanksgiving traditions
For me and many others in the US, Thanksgiving is one of the most tradition-rich holidays of the year. At its best, it reminds us to be thankful for one another… and thankful for the exorbitant amounts of delicious once-a-year foods we get to enjoy! It brings our families together to sit down for a moment and reflect, talk, eat, drink, and be merry all together!
Taking time to be grateful is not only fun, it is actually incredibly good for our emotional wellbeing and physical health. Thinking about what we are grateful for not only makes us happy, it helps us reframe our current environment, reflect on the good stuff from our past and present, and start dreaming about the great things that await us in the future. “Having a grateful heart” is more than just an expression, it’s a biological fact. Practicing gratefulness helps calm our hearts, give us energy, improve our sleep habits, and can even help protect us from illness.
This year, there is a sense of grief for many –myself included– that our usual Thanksgiving traditions will be on hold for health and safety reasons. We won’t fly to be with our more distant relatives, and we won’t gather together in large groups. And we shouldn’t pretend it will be and build it up in our heads, only to be disappointed by yet another thing that can’t be as it usually is this year. Ironically, many of us need these traditions even more this year than usual because we’ve seen less of each other, and we certainly need reminders to be grateful for the beautiful things we do still have. So we need to uphold the traditions we can safely uphold (now’s also the time to phase out some of those traditions we would rather not uphold anyway), and maybe even build some new joyful traditions for the Thanksgivings of our future! (To read our thoughts on the importance of tradition and routine for children in this time of isolation, click here!). Thanksgiving likely won’t be as we usually imagine it, so we need to reimagine it.
Twists on Typical Traditions & New Turns of the Times
Let’s take this party outside! Instead of a warm and cozy indoor feast for all, put up a rain tent outside (with outdoor space heaters where the weather demands it!) and set up the two or three “immediate family only” tables over 6 feet apart from one another (following the gathering restrictions in your area), with every table enjoying their own dishes of food (instead of sharing between tables). I’ve seen a lot of cool individual-sized Thanksgiving treats we finally have an excuse to try! Who knows - it could even be fun to have the fresh air while chowing down!
Send “thank you” notes! Send a special surprise to those that you aren’t able to travel to visit this year: write them a thank you note for all of the times you have had in the past and all of the fun plans you can make in the future. Tell them how thankful you are to have them in your life! You can even send along some vacuum sealed homemade snacks! And further, you can even send thank you notes to people you wouldn’t always get to see and celebrate with on Thanksgiving (maybe even the doctors, nurses, and other essential workers that are working to keep us all safe and healthy during these challenging times)!
Make gratefulness crafts! Maybe it’s a turkey made from hand outlines with things people are thankful for written in the center. Maybe it’s a cornstalk with leaves of thanks climbing the stock. Or a cornucopia with all kinds of different fruits and vegetables. Check out our Pinterest board “Isolation Imagination” for tons of fun crafty ideas for the season!
Bring the Turkey Trot to your neighborhood for a morning jog with your immediate household. Get dressed up in funny outfits (including masks), and go for a jog or walk or sprint around your neighborhood, making sure to wave at all of your neighbors from afar - brightening their day and getting in some of that pent up turkey day energy!
Host a drive-in Football or Thanksgiving Day Parade viewing party in your driveway (with a large sheet and a TV projector brought outside!) Sitting in your cars separately might seem a bit strange at first, but then again you can be safe, be together, and watch each other’s reactions to some of the crazy floats and plays that will go on throughout the day on your favorite seasonal screens.
Host a Neighborhood Thanksgiving-themed Scavenger Hunt! Hide little Thanksgiving treats and treasures throughout the neighborhood with your neighbors, making sure your hands are clean and your items are sanitized before hiding. Then wearing masks and staying socially distant, enjoy a fun new scavenger tradition - take that Easter egg hunt to a whole new holiday!
Thanksgiving Recipe Swap! Make a list of people you would usually share food with on Thanksgiving and start an email or snail mail chain of recipe sharing. Maybe you can finally share that amazing secret recipe that only comes out for the holidays!
Additional Resources about the Connections between Health and Gratitude:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/in-praise-of-gratitude
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/gratitude-can-boost-your-health-5-ways-to-develop-it/
https://www.whartonhealthcare.org/discovering_the_health
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html
