Kay:
Hey, there Questers, Happy Thanksgiving!
Shi:
(a) What are you doing listening to us? And (b) thank you for listening to us…
Kay:
So, it’s November 26th, and whether you’re on a catch-up episode or listening on the day of, we want to just say happy, Happy Thanksgiving! This is one of our favorite holidays. Now, I mean, in 2020 Christmas kickoff happened on November 1st. But today would usually feel like the kickoff of that season. We just absolutely love this holiday when we get to come together with everyone and celebrate one of our very favorite human emotions.
Shi:
Now, even if you are not one of our U.S. listeners, this is still an episode for you because we’re talking about gratitude all week and certainly today is a holiday to celebrate that. We’ve got a quote for you today from J. Robert Moskin, who says, “Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths. At whatever straws we must grasp, there’s always a time for gratitude and new beginnings.”
Kay:
Now Robert Moskin is an award-winning historian and a journalist who reported from troubled spots all around the globe. So, from Korea to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, he did three rounds of reporting from the Vietnam war, and he even included a wartime visit to an enemy-held Hanoi. So, he has definitely seen the root of it. And you know, when you see the worst of humanity, oftentimes you also see some of the most beautiful things shine through.
Shi:
Do you think it’s why he chose this first sentence here? It really jumps out to me – “Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness…” Now Thanksgiving means the expression of gratitude, especially to God. Then of course the second meaning being the holiday here, usually including turkeys that commemorate a harvest festival celebrated by the pilgrims. It’s celebrated here in the US and additionally in Canada, but Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness I think really is encapsulating the fact that even in the darkest times of history, even in the darkest times of our lives, throughout humanity, there has been this tendency to move towards how and where we can find the hope to move on. The one thing that was trapped in Pandora’s box, even back in the Greek legends, the one thing that remained was that the humans still had hope. So, all the bad things came out, but hope remained, and hope can only spring forth if you have a vision that things can be better and that can come from knowing what is already good even if it’s the smallest, littlest thing. So, I think there’s a lot of brevity here in this quote.
Kay:
Well, when we get into that prehistoric dimness too, what comes to mind for me is the innateness of gratitude. You know, my dog Ru, he is the loudest little thing ever. He’s 13 pounds. He’s a rescue terrier from Tijuana, Mexico, and we love him so much. He is just a part of our family at this point. But still every single night, he thanks me after he eats. So, we feed him, and then when he’s done with that (before he scratches on the door and needs to go potty), he always, when he has done with his dinner, he comes up to me and he jumps up on my lap and he’s wiggling his little body and he comes and he says, “thank you,” after dinner. That always touches me. But we see that in the videos of, you know, the whale being freed from the net and doing a leap for the people before he leaves or watching the ways that even animals express gratitude. It’s hardwired into us as mother nature’s animals to have the expression of gratitude. So, from the prehistoric dimness universal to all ages and all faiths. I would like to open that up and say to all a pretty sentient species as well.
Shi:
Yeah. And seeing that it is so innate, our two dogs are Labs and after they eat – one of them, Boomer…
Kay:
Lovies
Shi:
…goes on a lovey (stuffed animal) parade. He will go get the favorite lovey of one of the children. His favorite, favorite lovey is Whaley, Emery’s lovey, and he parades it around the house to applause and love and much tail wagging. It is his way of thanking and now even his brother, Buddy will go get a sock or shoe and parade it a little bit as well. It’s neat to see the way that that is expressed. But when I look back at human history, (I’ve been tripping about this lately), just the amount of strife, of stress, of hardship that humans have faced and still have found that hope to go on…Still have found things to be grateful for…Still have lived in the moment and enjoyed themselves. And I think this quote really helps that come to light.
Now, what do you really have to be stressed about? I say this to myself as much as I say it to any listener out there. Compared to the 1800s you had a 45% chance of your kid making it to five years old. Half of every kid died, and they kept going. Now it’s easy to lose that gratitude when the inbox gets too full or you get stressed about something or you put the wrong time on something or any kind of number of things, but keeping that perspective about the dimness of prehistoric times, I think helps bring that Thanksgiving to light.
Kay:
Well, as Robert says, at the end of this quote, “whatever straws we must grasp.” There’s always time for gratitude and new beginnings and, you know, as I stepped into the shower just the other day, and I turned on the water, I had that same experience of, “look at how much we have to be grateful for.” There are times I beach. I’m going through some personal drama right now. I won’t air it out on the podcast but like where I’ll, you know, run my mouth about my personal drama. Then I go into a bathroom and I turn a knob and hot water rains and then I bathe in that hot water for however long I choose with soaps that get me clean in 15 minutes and an electric hair dryer that then drives my hair and I’m done in a half-hour or less. What people would have gone through; what people have gone through to give me this experience is amazing. So, as Robert Moskin reminds us, “Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths at whatever straws we must grasp…” Even showers. “There is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings.”
Shi:
Now that brings you to your Thanksgiving Day quest! We want to reach out to one other person today and we know earlier this week, we asked you to call your mom. You don’t have to call someone today. You can simply text or email, or if you’re feeling brave, you can call. Whether it be in person at dinner or over the phone or sending a letter, anything else. Take a moment to thank someone in your life that has had influence on you and that deserves a little Thanksgiving here on the Thanksgiving holiday.
Kay:
If you want to take that Thanksgiving just a little bit further and maybe show a little bit of gratitude, feel free to share over the Quest eBook that’s available at kayandshi.com. Like we’ve said earlier in the week, we’ve got nothing to sell you on but yourself and we’ve put together something we think you guys are really going to enjoy from the bottom of our hearts. So, we hope you head over to kayandshi.com to get that eBook today. Are you ready?
Kay and Shi:
Let’s quest!
Shi:
Happy Thanksgiving!