Gratitude & Thankfulness

From the Editor By Yvette Neshi Lokotz

I love Autumn. I love the trees’ leaves changing color and then dropping to the ground. I even love the rain during this time as it helps nature to prepare for winter. I am grateful for this time of year because we begin preparations to be indoors during the colder weather to come.

My mind turns to thankfulness not because of Thanksgiving but rather because of the last few items harvested from the garden and how we begin to prepare meals that are more comforting — such as stews, soups, and ovenbaked foods.

I have written many blog articles and magazine articles about Thanksgiving and this U.S. holiday from a Native American perspective. I haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving in the traditional sense in many decades. However, I have prepared more traditional foods around this time of year because I enjoy them.

My family has gathered at this time of year for the gun deer hunting season, and Thanksgiving just happens to occur during the same time. We did have the turkey meal with all the trimmings. We even watched the Macy’s parade as well as the football games. I never really felt true thankfulness built around this one day a year.

I do, however, believe in being grateful and being thankful. My spiritual practice places gratitude and thankfulness very high every day, not just one day a year. My practice is not based on the commercialized platitude of Thanksgiving Day. I also avoid Black Friday shopping.

Have you noticed how you feel when you are heartfelt thankful and heartfelt grateful? A sense of happiness, peacefulness, light-heartedness, and even joy is felt deep inside.

I consciously choose to be grateful and thankful so that I can feel happy. Sometimes, I have to give myself an attitude adjustment to have heartfelt gratitude and thankfulness. Sometimes it can take a day or more to really feel the gratitude and thankfulness from my heart. The point is that I get there and I feel the higher vibrations of happiness.

In today’s world, some would question how you can sense thankfulness and what is there to be grateful for when the world seems to be filled with panic, chaos, and hate. I believe we choose how we want to feel, even though we may face dire circumstances.

I also believe we are powerful co-creators. As co-creators, we can choose to create from a heart that is filled with gratitude and thankfulness. The trick is making that choice.

Here is what I am truly grateful and thankful for, given I am experiencing fatigue from being my mother’s primary caregiver for nine years, and now she is in the in-home hospice program. We are always aware of her health declining and moving toward her passing, Walking On.

I am thankful and grateful for:

My husband, Paul, who has taken on the meal preparations and cleanup;

The newly formed caregiver team for my mom; The hospice nurse assigned to my mom;

My Star Nations Executive Team as they take on more and more of my work so that I can be present for my mom;

Our power partners at Elf Elm Publishing who are our magazine layout specialists and have taken on almost all of the creation process for the magazine so that I can be present for my mom;

Star Nations community who have us in their prayers and are sending us love as we travel this part of my mom’s journey;

My SiStars who love and support me every step of the way. They are my sounding board, which encourages me to do my self-care.

Our cover image is our nod to Native American Heritage Month.

In this issue of Star Nations Magazine, we bring you articles about Day of the Dead, All Soul’s Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Beauty, Kindness, and Native American Heritage Month.

Please enjoy your time with us as you read the articles, watch the videos, and listen to the audios. We wish you a very happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Jage Nagonan (Potawatomi for All My Relatives), Neshi