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Note to readers: Christina's journal entries are added periodically as the seasons of the year roll around. To read previous journal entries, choose from the menu on the right.
Thanksgiving, November 2006:
Journal Entry #4
Why not introduce Storycatching into your holidays?
The fourth Thursday of November in the United States is Thanksgiving Day -- a pause to honor harvest, to acknowledge connections of family and community, say another year is passing and hopefully, take a gentle kind of stock of things as people head into the holidays of Christmas, Hanukah, Solstice, and Kwanzaa that lead us to the new year.
This Thanksgiving at our house: we are expecting fifteen local friends for our annual celebration. We begin to gather mid-afternoon so everyone can enjoy the smells of roasting turkey and contribute their own side dishes to the buffet.
 As people arrive they set things down and proceed to the living room with a glass of punch or cup of tea. Each one takes a placemat-sized piece of poster-board, scissors and glue, and starts going through stacks of collected magazines. Soon the room turns into a creative mess as people construct collages that represent what they are thankful for in the past year. There is the murmur of sweet conversation: people catching up with each other who may not have visited since last year's gathering, and requests to help each other find certain images, "Anyone got a grandmother and baby photo?"
"Well, there are about 20 in your purse!"
"Of course, I'll use some of those. And by the way, how is your daughter doing?"
About half an hour before we eat, the collages are finished, everyone sits in comfortable chairs and tells a brief story of what the imagery represents to them. The cooks dash to final preparation, people set their own place at the table. We pray. We serve. We eat.
And later, in that space between dinner and when we can face the delicious array of pies, we gather around the fireplace and feed each other a round of stories. A question sets us in a particular direction:
What is a recent experience you've had that gives you hope?
What's a favorite memory about Thanksgiving Day?
What's the most unusual thing you've ever done on Thanksgiving?
What's do you hope will have changed/happened in your life by next Thanksgiving?
The kinds of collective spirit that gathers around these holidays hold many stories waiting to be told. Will you be the Storycatcher in your family or circle of friends to create a space and a bit of time to hear each other's tales?
Remember the invitation to share some of your stories is always available on the www.storycatcher.net web site, and books signed to your friends available at the office: www.peerspirit.com.
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