donuts for thanksgiving? a study in culture, ritual and gratitude...
Actually Boston-based artist and friend Emily Eveleth’s donuts have a place anytime, anywhere as far as I’m concerned. They're beautiful!
My point is simple: some things must be meaningful to matter, like a Thanksgiving meal, cultural rituals and the way we care for ourselves.
In these days before the whirlwind begins, we have a rare chance to pause and see preparation as an act of making-meaning. It comes from culture and traditions passed down by the people who cared for us, and is shaped by the sources we admire.
Preparation is its own kind of ritual: the lists, the shopping, the chopping, the planning. It’s the unseen labor that shapes the outcome. And when done with thought and intention, whatever we’re preparing tends to flourish.
The Thanksgiving table is a study in culture’s powerful imprint on our lives. The dishes that make the cut, the heirlooms, the table settings—all have origin stories tied to someone or something we value.
We make preparations and do this work to recreate them year after year because they matter to us.
What’s more, the typical Thanksgiving table is a mosaic of cultures woven into one uniquely American celebration:
• Sweet potato pie emerging from the African diaspora
• Cornbread is possible because of maize, a gift of Indigenous peoples
• Apple pie carried here through European foodways
Different cultures, different stories—yet they come together to nourish our bodies and enrich our sense of belonging.
Culture is everywhere this season: in the recipes, wisdoms, habits, gestures, techniques, and stories we inherit. It’s also in whether—and how—we were taught to care for ourselves, including our skin.
Some of us were taught early about the importance of taking care, while others learned by watching—and then there are those who never had these rituals modeled for them. It’s an absence that leaves a mark, either way.
Taking care of your skin is not vanity or cosmetic. It’s health. It’s heritage. It’s preparation for the long, beautiful life we hope to live.
Just like Thanksgiving, it takes attention, preparation and a bit of care.
As we step into this week, I invite you to give thanks for the cultures that brought your favorite dishes to the table and for the amazing body that enables all of our meaningful experiences.
May you nourish what truly matters and make preparations for goodness all around.
XOXO
Charla
