Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Love, InshAllah

Home
Muslim
Relationships and Religion
Science Fiction and The Search for Gratitude on Thanksgiving

Science Fiction and The Search for Gratitude on Thanksgiving

Last updated on: November 3, 2014 at 11:18 am by Posted by The Editors

Science Fiction and The Search for Gratitude on Thanksgiving 2014-11-03T11:18:04-07:00 Posted by The Editors

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Eds. note: “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.” A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Happy Thanksgiving to our family, friends, & readers in the US! And, thank you to guest blogger Ali Mattu from Brain Knows Better for allowing us to cross-post his wonderful Thanksgiving post!

I only have one rule for my blog – reference one finding from psychology and one work of science fiction in every post.

When I sat down to write a Thanksgiving article, it was easy to quote research on gratitude. Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky calls gratitude a “metastrategy for achieving happiness”. Experimental research has revealed that participants who were asked to count their blessing once a week for ten weeks felt more optimistic, more satisfied with their lives, had better health, exercised more, and reported fewer headaches, acne, coughing, and nausea than control groups. Collectively, research indicates that gratitude helps you:

appreciate life’s joys
increase self-esteem
cope under extreme stress
nurture resilience in the face of loss and trauma
foster altruism
build social relationships
undo negative emotions
combat hedonic adaptation

It doesn’t take much either – practicing gratitude just once a week leads to improved physical and mental health. You can write in a journal, share your thoughts with a loved one, write letters (even if they aren’t sent), make gratitude calls, or a bunch of other things. Giving thanks is really, really, really good for you!

So that’s the psychology part of the post – easy as pie.

It was a lot harder to write about Thanksgiving in science fiction. I couldn’t think of any science fiction story that directly relates to gratitude (Back to the Future was a contender), turkeys, Native Americans (I considered Chakotay episodes from Star Trek: Voyager), or pilgrims (Scott Pilgrim unfortunately doesn’t count).

A Google search for “science fiction Thanksgiving” led me to a fun scifi Thanksgiving grace by John Scalzi. Here’s a sample:

We also thank you for once again not allowing our technology to gain sentience, to launch our own missiles at us, to send a robot back in time to kill the mother of the human resistance, to enslave us all, and finally to use our bodies as batteries. That doesn’t even make sense from an energy-management point of view, Lord, and you’d think the robots would know that. But in your wisdom, you haven’t made it an issue yet, so thank you.

I loved the humor, but it didn’t help me crack this story.

Then I thought about the Buzz Lightyear balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade…that did nothing but kill time.

Buzz Lightyear in the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I had the idea of writing about all the science fiction films I’m grateful for this year (Hunger Games, Avengers, Looper), but then I couldn’t stop thinking about how disappointed I was with Prometheus.

Ultimately, I was inspired by this clip from last week’s Saturday Night Live:

[hulu id=fhx3h9akxjlmpwlaxd5_ma width=512]

SNL reminded me that Thanksgiving isn’t just about gratitude and food, it’s also about being stuck at home with your family. Then I knew immediately what episode to write about – Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Family”.

The episode takes place right after the U.S.S. Enterprise stops a Borg invasion. The crew is stuck in Earth orbit while the ship is being repaired. Captain Picard decides to visit his estranged brother, Worf gets an unexpected (and unwanted) visit from his adopted parents, and Wesley watches a message his deceased father made for him shortly before he died.

Everything about Thanksgiving is captured here. The dread of being stuck in uncomfortable situations (Worf: “I am not looking forward to this…I wish they would come so it would begin and end sooner.”), realizing that you have changed while your home has not (Picard: “Everything is exactly as I remember it. The house, hills, every tree, every bush seems untouched by the passage of time.”), and reminders of those who are no longer with you (Dr. Crusher: “Jack recorded a holographic message for Wesley just after he was born. It was a gift for him when he grew up. Jack was going to make many more of them – he never had the chance.”).

The episode isn’t just about the mess of families (though there is plenty of that), it’s about the dialectics of them. Dialectical thinking refers to understanding ideas through relationships (e.g. we know light because of dark, up because of down). It’s about searching for what is being left out and honoring the wisdom in two opposing perspectives. So often strong feelings associated with the holidays get us stuck on one side of a dialectic (“it’s going to be awkward, boring, and sad”). Yes, being with your family is awkward and it’s also comforting. You might be bored as well as excited about your family’s holiday traditions. Reflecting on relatives you have lost is sad while it also reminds you of the joy they brought to your life.

Ultimately, the characters in this episode are able to experience gratitude once they embrace their family’s dialectics. For Picard, it’s a matter of understanding the disagreement and similarity between him and his brother (see the clip below). Worf must integrate the distance and closeness he feels for his parents. Wesley balances the sadness and admiration he has for his father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLAvi-MNF4c?rel=0&w=420&h=315

You can probably find similar dialectics in your own family (I feel a lot like Worf this time of year). Embracing the mess of our families, both the good and bad, will not only help us enjoy our Thanksgiving, but it will also increase the chance of experiencing gratitude for the time we have with our loved ones today.

—

Ali Mattu received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. he was born and raised in Silicon Valley and studied psychology at UCLA. Ali is currently a post-doctoral fellow in clinical psychology at the NYU Langone Medical Center Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Child Study Center. Outside of psychology, he is an active photographer. Whenever possible, Ali consumes science fiction.

This post originally appeared on Ali’s blog Brain Knows Better.

Previous Post

November 16, 2012

Friday Love: Mama's wisdom

Next Post

November 27, 2012 Paris Hilton in Mecca

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Brown Girl Dreaming Editors Flirting with Fate and other Disasters of an Intersectional Muslimah Food, Love, & Memories Friday Love Halal Since 22 Integrity of Heart Life After Death Literary Mama Literature Love Inshallah Podcast Love InshAllah writers Media My Infidel Husband Not Without Love Poetry Monday Radical Love Reflections & Readings Reviews of Love InshAllah Salaam Love Writers Sex & The Ummah Single in the City Spotlight Story & Chai Book Club The Geekologist The Love Tour The Male Gaze Things I Wish I'd Known Thoughts of a Wasat Girl Uncategorized Your Sunny Side Up Your voices

Select a Month May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the Christian response to being wronged?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Gossip Hold a grudge Revenge Forgive