Racism. Police brutality. Global warming. Never ending war. Students kidnapped and most likely killed. Refugees drowning in the mediterranean while looking for some hope of a future. Austerity. Rise of fascism and religious fundamentalism. State and corporate surveillance. Rape. Homophobia and transphobia and the violence that often accompanies it. Indiscriminate suppression of dissent. The list of news that can, and do, depress us and infuriate us seems to have no end. And today is thanksgiving in the USA, a day when we are supposed to give thanks for what we have, a day with its own very ugly history and context. Finding gratitude in the midst of all this can be, at best, a challenge.
Yet, it is precisely in the midst of all this that we need to remind ourselves what we are grateful for, otherwise we can just fall into a permanent state of cynicism, resentment, fear and anger. While these are understandable emotions and especially fear and anger can help motivate us to work for change, I generally find them not very good places in which to establish permanent residence.
A few months ago I was talking with a friend who is doing a lot of work in support of political prisoners, frankly an area where good news is not the norm. As we were talking about the stress and tension that she felt we walked outside under the night sky. Away from lights we looked up to see the stars and the milky way. We fell silent for a moment appreciative of the beauty above us and around us. It is at times like this that I am reminded that despite all the ugliness that we might encounter, it is beauty that is the norm in our universe. At times this beauty is hidden from us. Often we forget to look for it or fail to recognize it. And some times, like that night, we need to step deeper into the darkness in order to find it. But it is always there, always around us, always waiting to welcome us, to remind us that we don’t struggle because of the ugliness of the world but because of its beauty.
So today, like everyday, I am grateful for the beauty of the world. I am grateful for this earth and all that she provides for us. I am grateful for the indigenous peoples who welcomed the strange newcomers on their land and shared with them its beauty and its bounty. I am grateful for the indigenous peoples who fought and continue to fight and resist those who didn’t show gratitude in response but tried to conquer, exploit, control and own beauty and land and people as if they are not the gifts of the world but commodities to be used. I am grateful for all those, past, present and future, here and everywhere, who continue to fight and resist oppression, domination and exploitation and work to bring forward a world where everyone is free. I am grateful for the artists, the writers, the poets, the musicians in our midst who remind us what it means to be human. I am grateful for the workers who have built everything that we get to use in our daily lives. I am grateful for the farmers and all the people who make sure that we have food. I am grateful for the healers and the teachers amongst us. I am grateful for all the people who history has ignored or forgotten but who contributed in their own small and significant way towards a better world for future generations. I am grateful for my parents and their parents and all of my ancestors who made it possible for me to exist today. I am grateful for my kids, my family, my friends, my coworkers, and all my fellow travelers in this fascinating journey of ours.
And I am grateful for the sea and the night sky for never failing to remind me that beauty is all around us.