Don’t Be Afraid to Cancel Thanksgiving Like Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart has canceled her Thanksgiving celebrations this year. Good. I hope she spends the day relaxing in lounge clothes, sipping a wine of her choice, and not toiling away in the kitchen for almost 12 hours like I did last year, and like she surely has every year for probably decades.

After multiple people bailed on her Thanksgiving dinner, rather than fight against the tide, Stewart is calling the whole thing off, letting the world know during her appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show:

“I gave up Thanksgiving. I canceled,” said Stewart, 82. “Nine guests canceled because somebody got sick. So … I called up my chef friend and I said, ‘We’re not doing Thanksgiving.’ “

Adding to her decision was the several meals she has already prepared ahead of the holiday. “I’ve also cooked 14 turkeys already for my TV show, and I still have to [cook] one more turkey on the Today show,” she explained. “So forget it.”

People

Good on her. I, like Stewart, have also canceled Thanksgiving this year for other reasons. I’ll explain.

First, I need to make a confession: I simply do not see the big deal about Thanksgiving. It’s fine, but it’s also a lot of work. In my (not-to-be-counted) years of being an adult, I’ve either had to cook for far too long to make a meal that is only, at best, mid (there are better things to eat than turkey), travel during the worst travel period of the year which is a massive hassle, or put up with people I’d rather not have to, all in the name of celebrating a holiday that I’m very “meh” on to begin with. So, I, too, have canceled Thanksgiving, and I urge you not to be afraid of doing the same.

I will spend Thanksgiving blissfully alone in my home, making a pizza (infinitely easier and better tasting than a roasted turkey), drinking wine, and watching Die Hard. Possibly Die Hard 2, if I don’t fall asleep. If I’m not feeling too lazy, I might even make a little cheese plate for lunch. Who knows? The entire day is reserved for me!

I’ve had a book I’ve been trying to finish for the past two months that I can only get through two pages of at the end of the day before exhaustion takes over and I fall asleep. I’m hoping I can make a dent in it on Thursday, with time I would have been cooking, and/or traveling, or staring at someone with glazed-over eyes why they try to tell me their preferred political candidate won’t ruin the world.

I absolutely understand that Thanksgiving is a time to be with loved ones and practice gratitude, but you know what? I love myself, too, and I see my friends enough that I want to give thanks to the things I love, and enjoy, which this year, is staying home and eating pizza. Like many people, I work a lot, and the weekends are jam-packed with socializing and doing fun things with friends, so this Thanksgiving, I’m shunning what everyone else wants or expects and focusing on what I want.

What I want, as it turns out, is to be gratefully, happily alone, with no emails, no interruptions, and no worrying about not drying out a damn turkey.

So I turned down all Thanksgiving invitations in my city, and around the country, and am eating what I want to make, rather than what you’re supposed to make, and just relaxing. There will be no mountain of dishes to do after I’m done eating, no traveling during crappy weather for a meal, and the most free time I’ve had in a single block since I can remember.

For some, this might seem sad. I assure you, with this plan in place, I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving this year in a way I haven’t since I was a little kid. So I completely understand why Martha Stewart is throwing in the bag this year, and giving up on celebrating it the traditional way. It’s far more fun to celebrate it your way.

(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NYCWFF)