Every day should be "gratitude season"

Apparently, the rash of "I'm so thankful for (fill in the blank)" status updates on Facebook has something to do with "gratitude season," which is an expression I spied on a friend's feed.

Gratitude season?!

I'm sorry, I really am, for what I am about to do, especially if you buy into this particularly saccharin mode of public expression.

I call bullshit.

But let me tell you why.

Every day of every week and month and year should be "gratitude season." And not just in our hearts (gag), but in very practical, lived ways. Why on earth would we restrict our thanks and expressions of gratefulness to November and December, a time for holidays that I find particularly distasteful anyway, no matter how yummy the mashed potatoes and turkey. But my problem with Thanksgiving will be reserved for another post. And don't even get me started on Christmas. Back to my lack of respect for a "gratitude season."

If you do not take the time during the regular course of your life to thank the people around you, to express your gratitude for tolerance, love, acceptance, a raise, your neighbor's willingness to lend you a ladder, whatever...then you have abdicated your right to complain about the state of humanity. If all of us spent more time thinking about how we could thank the people in our lives who make them better, on the whole, then our society would have a much different and more forgiving and tolerant tenor than it does now.

I know that the folks expressing their thanks publicly are doing so because they care, they love, and they want others to know how sincerely they appreciate people, ideas, services, etc. Putting it in writing somehow lends it, dare I say it, gravitas. A sense of weight and importance and sincerity. Fine. Good! I'm glad to see people spending a minute on such efforts. Now how about doing this every day, all year long? Carry these feelings of gratitude with you into, say, March. Or July. Why wait until a random public sanction allows you or requires you to do so?

And now a word in support of those who aren't participating in "gratitude season." Perhaps you consistently express gratitude and thanks on a regular basis to those you care about and just don't feel like doing so publicly. The pressure will mount on those of us who aren't participating in the form of unspoken eyebrow raises and silent judgments from the people who ARE publicly expressing gratitude and thanks - they may look at our political or humorous or non-grateful status updates and judge us negatively. My, my, look at her - not ONE gratitude post ALL season! Tsk, tsk.

I suppose I'm just getting more jaded and cynical with age. Or maybe I just prefer my humor and politics to be public (much like my writings), while my gratitude and thanks are mostly private affairs, often expressed in handwritten notes at random times throughout the year and not in a socially-established and sanctioned "season." I've had the same problem with Christmas, too, so don't think that I'm just focusing on THIS particular made-up "season." They're all a load of crap designed to make people feel better about themselves as opposed to truly bringing light and love into others' lives.

So, for "gratitude season," I say, "Bah, Humbug!" Spread that love and thanks around during the year - don't just wait until November and December. And on behalf of everyone who finds this idea ridiculous and who won't be posting "gratitude" missives, please don't assume that we aren't grateful...we just prefer expressing it in other ways. ;)