With the holiday season fast approaching and Thanksgiving just around the corner, many use this festive time to celebrate their family and friends, and to show their appreciation and gratitude for all the good fortune in their lives.
But a time of atonement and forgiveness just recently occurred, too.
Thanksgiving is the one day a year when we realize what we are grateful for. Duh, right? We laze around after the tryptophan has kicked in, ready to wave the white flag and declare last New Year's "lose 15 pounds" resolution a failure.
Then, there's that one truly corny moment in the evening when we recite our best moments of the year and appreciate the others at the table - even though with some family members that may be incredibly agonizing to do.
"I'm grateful for Aunt Marie's scrumptious green bean casserole," you say as you gag, all the while thinking, "I'm grateful for Aunt Marie's divorce. Her husband was a schmuck."
A day to give thanks is necessary in today's society. We spend so much time in a constant frenzy, we forget to sit back and look at all we have.
We don't take enough time to appreciate those we love - and even those we only tolerate probably deserve a little recognition of some sort. And once a year, we actually realize all this.
But we also need a day - not a day marked on the calendar, necessarily - to think of our regrets, our sins and our mistakes. Like the ending to a good Shakespeare play, we need catharsis.
In my search for this week's column topic, I stumbled upon an article by Mary Schmich in the Chicago Tribune entitled "Day of apology helps clear up 'sorry' situation." She proposes a "Day of Apology," a day to unburden ourselves from all of the guilt we accumulate over the year.
"Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement," her friend said in the column. "Leading up to it, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, you are supposed to apologize to everyone you know whom you might have hurt or offended during the year."
I'm certainly not trying to give a sermon here, but Judaism had the right idea with the season for redemption and rejuvenation in late September and early October.
But this doesn't need to be a solely religious day. It should apply to everyone. Anyone can use one day to cleanse her soul and to clear her conscience. And not one person could say he or she has nothing to apologize for.
I would apologize to my friend from elementary school for kicking her in the shin. And even though I maintain my reasoning for violence - she wouldn't stop singing "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!" - I now regret unleashing my 10-year-old rage.
I would apologize to my parents for being a little negligent and not showing enough appreciation for them during the year. For not spending more time with them before their baby bird flees the nest - a tragically overused metaphor, I know.
I would apologize to a friend for being untrustworthy and unintentionally harsh. (You know who you are.)
And lastly, I would apologize to myself for planning out the rest of my life instead of living it now.
Maybe this is a little too "My Name Is Earl," but I'm not talking about making a list of all those you've wronged and mowing their lawns to make up for it. Just like you would say "thank you" on Thanksgiving, say "I'm sorry" on the day you choose to make amends.
At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card, heal someone's heart by clearing your conscience.
Kirsten Keane is a journalism sophomore who would like to apologize to those who disagree with her. Contact her at kirsten.keane@asu.edu
