giving way to ashes

Source: ol-le.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

As I'm sure many of you know, today is Ash Wednesday in the Christian tradition. I find that regardless of one's devotion, it seems people really get into this day. And I like that. In the past, I've been very critical of people who gave up sweets during Lent but otherwise avoided austerity and fasting. I wisely rebelled by not doing anything during the season.

I know, very mature.

At last night's Mardi Gras party for some great moms, my friend Renee asked me what I was planning to give up for Lent. I confessed that with Obie on his/her way, basement stuff, constant illness in the house---I just hadn't thought about it. She told me she's giving up shopping, something she does with joyful intention and frugality rather than impulse and emotion.

Shopping. And not just the clothes, but the perusing for things one doesn't even plan to by. The enjoyment itself! While everyone else was discussing the usual sweets and alcohol, she was talking about something different, something she truly enjoyed, did wisely, and whose absence she would feel keenly. After all, the Lenten sacrifice is intended to provide us with a feeling of emptiness so that we can fill it with what is holy. All too often our Western tendencies just fill it with another good or vice, like wine for beer or darnit for dammit.

She really set the bar. We paused to consider what might be a parallel for me, and I knew pretty fast what that would be.

Pinterest.

I LOVE pinterest. I love seeing what other people pin. I love searching for new pins and discovering previously discovered inspiration. I spend more online time at Pinterest, or pinning things off the web, than anywhere else. It is the single most source for creativity; the most attainable with a toddler around.

So, my friends, I'm sacrificing the joy I experience with Pinterest. Ugh. Sundays are supposed to be mini-Easters, I'm celebrating by giving myself an hour every Sunday to check in and continue the joy. Some might consider this cheating bending the rules, but I love that Sundays are never officially days of fasting in the church calendar. I'll be careful not to gorge myself.

I guess pinterest fridays will have to be completed on Sundays :)

If you do anything for Lent, what is it? Do you enjoy the experience, or does it feel more obligatory and mundane?

Whatever your day is like, we wish you well from the nest!

icj,
~j

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