Finding Harmony in Holiday Chaos

Ever wondered how a childhood memory can shape your lifelong connections to beloved traditions?  As Thanksgiving approaches, I open up about my favorite aspects of the holiday—time off work, turkey, football and family. We also navigate the sometimes-turbulent waters of family gatherings amid political differences, reflecting on recent elections and personal losses, and the importance of finding common ground with loved ones.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!  Stay Safe and Grateful!

Chapters

• 0:00 Thanksgiving, Family, and Politics
• 11:18 Podcast Book Review Recommendation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by Thanksgiving, charlie Brown. I had to start with that quote because I have a very special bond with Charlie Brown, especially Thanksgiving. I have a very special bond with Charlie Brown, especially Thanksgiving, and I figured I would start by telling you a little story. It wasn't really Thanksgiving, it was actually Halloween.

Speaker 1: 0:31

But when I was about I don't know four, maybe three, I wanted to be Wonder Woman so badly I cannot even tell you, like at three, that was pretty important to me. You know I begged my mom and the nursery school that I was in, chimney Rock, I think the name of it was. They were having this every. All the kids get to dress up day for Halloween. So I told my mom what I wanted to be. She's like all right, you know, love, you go to bed and we'll see what happens in the morning, I'll see what I can find. I'm like okay, well, you know, obviously now I can look back and see my mom didn't hardly have any money, she just didn't, and she was very creative and artistic and able to just see outside the box and make things work. So when I woke up I was really excited. She said come downstairs, I have your costume for you. I go downstairs and what do I see? It's a large orange construction paper like large, with this rope type string attached to the top. And she puts it over my neck and she says here you go. I'm like, what am I? And she said you're the great pumpkin from Charlie Brown. Well, as a three or four year old girl who wanted to be Wonder Woman, this was disastrous. I just I don't know if I even understood what embarrassment was, or if that was my first time ever being jealous of people that got to be Wonder Woman, I don't know. But looking back, bravo, mom. Like kudos to you. You were able to spend as little money as possible and still give me a costume. So I'm thankful for you, I'm thankful for your creativity and I'm forever bonded with the great pumpkin of Charlie Brown. Great Pumpkin of Charlie Brown, I'm your host, christy Chanel, and this is the Love. You Miss you Bye. Podcast. Happy Thanksgiving week. Here we are. It's finally here.

Speaker 1: 2:50

A lot of people have a lot of different ideas on what Thanksgiving means to them. For me, if I can be completely honest, it means a couple of things. All right, my favorite, my top four things would be PTO I get like nine days off in a row and I look forward to it and I plan it every year. Football, because anyone that knows me knows I am a Dallas Cowboy diehard fan and they play every Thanksgiving, so it's awesome. Except for this season, not really looking forward to it, they're playing the Giants. It's a freaking toss-up. I don't know. They just got rid of their quarterback. Not really important. We are terrible. We don't even have our quarterback. He's hurt. So beyond that, I also look forward to the turkey and the mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce. That's like my favorite thing in the whole world.

Speaker 1: 3:43

And I do have a question for you Do you say stuffing or do you dressing? I say stuffing. So stuffing is typically said by people from the North and that's where I was raised. So I guess it would make sense that I say stuffing, whether you go out to eat, whether you stay home, whether you get it catered or go and buy it, bring it home and then throw your packaging away. I have a family member that I know did that in the past.

Speaker 1: 4:13

It's important to spend time and just kind of unplug a little bit. There's a lot of different ways people celebrate, it can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Right now, we're in an environment where it feels really negative and the energy associated with it is not great at all. We just had an election, which really affects people's moods and how they're feeling, and some are depressed. Some are just picking themselves up right now saying get the hell over it and start moving in a forward direction where you can take action to protect you and your community. Some people are learning things they never knew.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Like me, I'm educating myself and taking action on things that I never did before, and I'm ashamed to say that Sometimes it takes a very pivotal event to create change and I think that for us it's going to do that. But I took the time necessary to separate myself and collect my thoughts. One way that I'm able to center myself and gauge what I'm doing is basing it on my mom. I know that sounds weird, but my mom passed away when I was 25. Mom passed away when I was 25. And that was a very pivotal moment in my life Life defining. I was one way before it happened and I was another way after it happened. I feel the same way about this election. I was one way when I voted and I was another way after the results were read. That can really change you and rock you to the core, because you look around and you start to think did they vote for Trump? Did they vote for Trump? Who in my family voted for Trump? Typically, they out themselves very quickly and you probably knew about it before the election.

Speaker 1: 6:11

But it's so close to Thanksgiving, it's so close to the time that you're supposed to gather with family and be together. Now. Are you able to collect yourself and get yourself together before the holidays, like? Can you Like? Right now, as I'm filming this, we don't have much time. This will air on Monday. The countdown is here. The countdown has begun. The countdown has begun. Can you do it? I've decided I can. I can, because again I bring my mom into the picture.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Imagine her and I had different political views and I was pissed when she died and I was upset when she died and I didn't want to have anything to do with her. I would regret that for the rest of my life. I would regret that an election could put a divide between me and the most important person in my entire world. I can't do that and I have to use her as my example to really center myself, because one her and I would have had the same political view because she raised me, she gave me the structure and helped me become a free thinker. So her and my stepdad shaped me. That would not have been a fear, but I use it just to compare.

Speaker 1: 7:32

I have people in my life right now that we do have different political views, and am I going to let Trump get in the way of my family? No, I didn't reach that overnight. It took me a little bit of time to get there. But I'm here and I realized that I have good intentions. I'm going to go there. I'm going to be surrounded by wall to wall Trump voters OK, I am the outcast in that scenario politically and I know that. So I have to really make a decision on how I'm going to handle having Fox News on the TV or discussions going around about politics. How am I going to deal with that? I guess we're not going to really know that until after the event, which I'm sure I will share with you. I am going to go there with with positive intentions and enjoy my family. I will walk out of circles within the gathering that I feel uncomfortable with, because what I'm not going to do is have a debate. What I'm not going to do is cause a divide, just not going to do it. If I feel overwhelmed, like this is really causing me to be very upset, I'll remove myself completely and then just go over there the next day and visit, without wall-to-wall Trump people. But I love my family and I will not let Trump take that away from me too. I'm just not going to do it.

Speaker 1: 9:06

I don't believe everyone that voted for Trump is a bigot and a complete menace to society. I just don't, and I have to believe that. I have to believe that. So, with that, I hope that you go and enjoy your holidays and if you're in a group that all have the same views one way or the other with you, I'm jealous. I have to tell you I'm a little bit jealous. I would love that.

Speaker 1: 9:31

You know I thought about going into all the little trivia things about Thanksgiving, but honestly, it's not really a podcast I would listen to. I just wouldn't. Yeah, it's on theme, it's on brand, it makes sense to do it right now, but I just wouldn't listen to a podcast that did that. I would listen to a podcast that actually broke through the whitewashed history of Thanksgiving and really talked about the indigenous people. I'd listen to that because, you know, even though we're all celebrating and having a grand old time at Thanksgiving, there are people in the world that aren't, that are not celebrating at all.

Speaker 1: 10:11

So I would also think about that and, when you're sitting down there with your families, consider the people of the world that are horrified by the events that may have happened to their ancestors and they're still fighting today for freedoms and land that is theirs. So let's just remember that. Let's also remember there are people that are hurting because they've lost a loved one. Let's keep them in our hearts and remember that these types of events and holidays can sometimes bring pain and sadness to people. I know I will. So I won't be just sitting down at the dinner table thinking of how lucky I am, which I need to do and we all need to do. I will be sitting down at the table and thinking about the people that may not have what I have and be grateful, even if it's not the most wonderful things in the whole world. Be grateful for what you have because they're yours and nobody will take them away from you and I figured I would end on a quote.

Speaker 1: 11:18

But before I do that, before I go into my quote, I did want to say I am currently listening to the Audible book Share. It's so good. I've only listened to the beginning, but I plan on cleaning my house and putting my headphones on and just listening to the book. As I do it, I have some, some projects I have in store for my home to declutter some areas and get more feng shui. I'm really loving it.

Speaker 1: 11:41

So I'm going to be doing a book review on next Monday's podcast. As soon as I finish the book, I'll start working on the podcast episode. Maybe you can read along, go pick it up or go to Audible and listen to the book yourself. Even if you don't have a chance to do that, or if you don't want to do that, I'm going to give you an overview and then you can maybe decide if you want to do that and the quote that I'm going to end the podcast on. If you know where this quote is from, throw it in the comments, send me a text and let me know, because I'm not going to tell you, but I'm betting if you're Gen X, you probably know it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a little emotional, scarring Love. You miss you, bye, bye.