It’s hard to believe we are into the last month of the year, and the Winter holidays and 2023 are quickly approaching. Where did these last 11 months go? We certainly hope when you look back you will be fine with how your life is unfolding, if not, we hope you have the will power to do something different to improve your health and wellbeing.
Wow, what a year of great work for The Beat Within, and we anticipate plenty of the same going into this next chapter. As always, we warmly welcome you readers new and old, back for more powerful writings, thoughts, insights, song, poetry, art and truth that only this one of a kin magazine can bring to this important community, as we are truly the only publication putting out a double issue every other week. We are thankful for you all for embracing The Beat Within magazine and workshops each week, and what a better time to put this editorial note out than on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
It’s Thanksgiving today. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and their families and I hope that everyone is making the best out of their situation. I woke up today, as normal as any other day. Not the smell of pumpkin pie baking, not the smell of my aunt preparing the turkey, nor making the stuffing. Not to anyone in my family in particular telling me that they need me to run an errand. No one actually wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving. I woke up to another normal day, just me and my son here in the country of Nicaragua. I washed clothes, and then sat down to my computer to go ahead and get some work done.
The clouds have been fighting with the sun all day, and in this very moment it just started pouring heavy rain. It’s like the clouds matched my somber mood, as if telling me to let it all out. But I refused to give in to the thoughts of depression. For those of you young guys and gals locked up and are missing this holiday, at the very least you will be accompanied by your peers. Your staff won’t let you down and will give y’all something decent for this special day. So, you will definitely be eating some turkey, gravy, stuffing, corn bread maybe, pumpkin pie fo’ sure!
I know, I’ve spent countless holidays as a juvenile locked up, and also as an adult, and today is good reminder that even though I’m not locked up, I find myself away from where I should be. My adopted son(I mean that with pure love and no disrespect) doesn’t know a damn thing about Thanksgiving, and I tried to explain to him but he just nodded his head and kept playing video games. He said that he’d never eat turkey because turkey’s are ugly.
But what really is Thanksgiving Day? Let’s take a look back in history and see how it all started. According to sources history.com in 1621 the Plymouth Colonists, that actually moved to the new Found World, later to be named America, were escaping New England’s religious persecution. The Native Americans would teach the new settlers how to hunt, grow crop and they would get together to celebrate with a feast that would give birth to aforementioned Holiday on Thursday November 26th, 1621. Lost in all of this is that there is a Dark Version to this Holiday, but as we have all come to learn, American History is filled with more dark passages than a Stephen King Book.
But I’m not here to focus on the negativity, because even though there is some dark history behind it, I tend to think that there is actually something really positive about this holiday. For all those Native Americans that were affected by this Holiday, I feel for you and understand your pain. But the past is the past. Mexican Americans, Latinos in General, Blacks, Asians, White, we all celebrate 4th of July, even though 4th of July (Independence Day from Great Britain) there were still slaves that never would see freedom for centuries to come, in this supposed land of the free where people of color are still being oppressed till this very day! Minorities have every reason to hate these holidays, but that doesn’t stop any of us or them from celebrating a meal, with our family, or our loved ones, our neighbors and coming together in peace, as these holidays are all about peace, love, respect and the ability to come together for a meal, and for a peaceful moment regardless of what race we are and whatever beliefs we have.
We all tend to divide ourselves based on race/origin, ethnicity, color of skin, what we claim, what hoods we’re from, whether you’re democrat or republican, but yet we all tend to eat the same foods, drink the same sodas, juices, drinks. We all love carne asada, burritos, some shrimp fried rice, burgers and hotdogs, and if you’re vegan, then vegans share similarities in the taste in foods.
The beauty and irony of America is that the same thing that divides us all (culture, race, color, religion, politics) are the same things that bring us together. Walk into a taqueria and you’re not just going to see Mexicans in there, You will see Whites, Blacks, Central Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Australians, etc. You name it. You go to a Chinese Food Restaurant and you’re not going to see just Asians. You see all different races. Heck, when I go to an Asian cuisine out here in Nicaragua the only people that are Asian are the cooks and the owner. The rest are Nicaraguans.
Let me simplify, you walk into Chick-Fil-A or Burger King or Mickey D’s and you will see people from all walks of life. You go to an Italian Restaurant to eat Pizza, and the majority of the people aren’t Italian. I may have gone over the top here, and maybe I’m getting hungry, but my point is that Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful.
Thanksgiving is a time for us all to come together with those we love and even those we may not necessarily get along with and enjoy some peace. Not only is it time for you to relax, kick back, have some laughs, eat a good meal, but it’s a time to look back on what you have gone through and where you want to go. For those that are locked up, it’s time to recognize what changes you need to make to get back to your family as quickly as possible.
It’s a time to be thankful for the things that we do have instead of thinking about the things that we don’t have. If we’re alive with good health, we should stop being a bit greedy and not only think about ourselves but think of those that may not have it as good as you and I. What can you do to make the smallest gesture? Be the biggest difference maker in the life of someone who needs it.
Thanksgiving is a time for giving and being thankful. Don’t let no one tell you otherwise. So, as I sit here thinking about how bad I wish I could be with my family…I remind myself that I have my freedom, the ability to choose what I want to eat, the ability to smell the fresh air when it rains and enjoy the sunlight once the rain is over.
After my workout I decided to start my day off with a Nacatamal for breakfast. Y’all heard of tamales right? Well this Nacatamal is a Nicaraguan tamale and it’s biiiiiig. It’s like a tamale but the ingredients contain rice, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, herbs, pork or chicken or both. The really good ones contain more vegetables and even raisins. It’s hearty and Nicaragua is famous for this particular dish.
Anyways, there’s a really good place that’s two streets over from where I live. So I start my little trek and on my way there I pass the Catholic Church on the corner. I notice an old man sleeping laying down on a piece of cardboard. He was sleeping on the side of the church. It’s not uncommon at times to see a homeless person sleeping there.
Sometimes an occasional drunk is there passed out taking shade on the side of the church. I noticed the man moving and shuffling as he was waking up. I hurry to get to my spot because I’m going to get this man a Nacatamal, to pieces of freshly baked bread and a cup of coffee.
I come walking back in a hurry kind of anticipating the man already gone, after all it was approaching 9am and usually homeless people don’t sleep in that late, or what do I know right? What was I thinking? I mean where else was this man going to go anyways? He was still there and sleeping. I wake him up and tell him he could probably use a good breakfast and cup of coffee.
The man didn’t even have any shoes and quite frankly you could tell he was in need of some help. I felt bad that I couldn’t do more, but I figured that this gesture was enough to get him going in the right direction. He was grateful and speechless, but I didn’t give him a moment to thank me as I walked away wishing him a great day.
The spirit of giving doesn’t necessarily mean buying something for someone. You can give your time to someone, spend more time with your son/daughter, mom or dad, family member, loved one, etc. You can be there for someone in the time of need, maybe a sick person needs assistance and you can do something to help out, do it.
I didn’t need him to thank me, because at the end of the day I didn’t need a trophy. Matter of fact, it wasn’t even Thanksgiving when I did this. It was the day after, so I didn’t do this because of Thanksgiving, I did it because if I see someone that needs help, I try to do what I can. it doesn’t need to be the holidays.
And let me tell y’all something, Thanksgiving, better yet let me say “LIFE”, is all about giving when you can. Appreciate what you have and be thankful to the point that you always want to give back. That’s what Thanksgiving means to me, but that’s what life means to me.
So, whenever you get the opportunity to do something out of the goodness of your heart, don’t let the opportunity pass you and do it. It will only make you feel good about yourself and be grateful and thankful for the blessings in your life.
One love to everybody going through the struggle. OT is signing off with the utmost love and respect for each of you…The Beat keeps going and going…
The Beat truly does keep going and going… As OT delivers yet another fine editorial note, as he gives us a snapshot of his life during this past holiday weekend, as we know in the states as Thanksgiving weekend. We cannot agree more with OT, as the kindness he describes in his piece is quite heartfelt and moving, and we can only wish more of us would do more nice gestures for our neighbors, especially those in need.
Much respect to you readers, let’s keep the conversations and writings coming in, as they are needed more so now than ever before. We need your voices, your truths, your heart, and inspiration to help us all get through the day, to know we are not alone and that a better tomorrow is possible for us. Teach on and write on!