I feel that thanksgiving is a time to connect. I know this because recently i Felt very connected with my family, just us 4, by allowing myself to feel the thanksgiving spirit through helping my mom cook and listen to holiday tunes. But my experience is just one out of the many that connects to the many perspectives like the ones featured in the New York Times. And one article that I can relate to is the one from David Leaonhart’s “Turn off your phone on Thanksgiving”. He talks about the hypocrisy that lies in peoples complaints on not being able to connect with their families due to navigating issues when in reality it’s all because of the digital consumption that disconnects families. I was once this kind of person a year ago. But this year I made this holiday feel even more special by actually being engaged and enjoying my families presence by simply being one with the present.

Thanksgiving means to me that it’s time to be present. Being present with food, family, music, and yourself. To sit in gratitude with the three essentials to life, a home, family, and food. I feel as though many take this for granted, by over eating and ignoring family conversations. But overtime, you’ll eventually start to realize that everything you ever need is right in front of you and it isn’t a phone. Because when the time comes where life is at it’s end, you won’t need your phone. You’ll need your family. Which is why I think this tradition alone will suffice, whether or not it will leave the same impression it left on me this year as it will with someone else, somebody will come contact with this discovery on their own time.