Opinion: Don’t limit gratitude to Thanksgiving

Barton is a high school sophomore and lives in Spring Valley.

Every year, cooling breezes, migrating warblers and reddening sycamore trees signal the coming of autumn in San Diego. The ocean waters chill away their welcoming summertime temperatures, and nearby mountainous regions such as Cuyamacas and Lagunas begin to experience their first winter snowfalls.

Come the last nightfall in October, children don everything from Disney princess dresses to giant inflatable dinosaur costumes and do a little trick-or-treating through their local neighborhoods.

By the time late November comes around, families gather together for a time of fellowship and gratitude over plates of warm turkey, stuffing, and gravy, among a plethora of other delicious Thanksgiving dishes.

Right after Halloween, videos went viral depicting children and teenagers emptying entire bowls of Halloween candy on front porches, despite nearby signs clearly stating “Please Take One.” When did such a holiday that used to connect families and communities become a night of opportunistic self-indulgence? And how is it that Halloween is back-to-back with a holiday commemorating gratitude and contentment?

No honest person can selfishly deplete entire buckets of candy offered to them on Halloween night only to celebrate contentment a few weeks later. Something about this doesn’t make sense.

Looking at the root of this problem, it seems we’ve forgotten the grander reason for why we celebrate. We’ve forgotten that Halloween is a time to connect with our neighbors and communities as the seasons change and the weather turns brisk. We’ve forgotten that Thanksgiving is a celebration of how our predecessors voyaged to the New World to gain personal freedoms, wherein lay the foundational tenants of our country. And these aren’t the only examples. Many other holidays have equally been misaligned with their original intent and turned into something they were not meant to be.

So, what are we to do? I might suggest that we return to the reasoning behind our celebrations. And when we do, we find that every holiday presents the opportunity for heartfelt gratitude. Whether it be Easter, the Fourth of July, Christmas or anything in between, every observance provides an occasion for which to give thanks.

Even more than being grateful every holiday, don’t we also have the opportunity to give thanks for something every day? Even the smallest gifts of a sunrise or cool breeze can cause our hearts to pause in appreciation. It could be that an attitude shift toward daily gratitude might be the answer to those empty candy buckets.