04 February 2007

Lent is coming !

Well. It is !
Many years ago, an anglican freind of mine asked "What are you giving up for Lent ?" And I remember looking blankly at her.
Giving up for lent ?
I had never heard anything as silly as that.
But the thought grew on me. And grew.
To me, "giving up for lent" doesn't mean denying myself as much as it means freeing time and means to something else. Time to pray and meditate. Time to just look out the window. Time to commuicate with both God and myself.
And so, I have :-)
Given up something for Lent.
For the past 3-4 years it's been to do with my quilting.
During lent, I have not started new projects, and have not bought fabric.
It was downright scary the first year.
And last year, to keep a commitment to a dear freind, I broke the "not start anything" promise. But apart from that, I've been good.
To be quite honest, I have more fabrics, more started projects, and many, many more ideas, patterns and general dreams, than I can hope to finish in the next many years. To have a 40 day stop on starting new things as well as buying new things, should be do-able.

To me, my lent-promise to myself has many benefits :-)
I do spend less time window-shopping (and real-life shopping) on the 'net.
I work on "tired" projects, rather than starting something new.
BOB is given an airing.
And at the end of Lent, I have - usually - progressed well on at least one project that was all but stalled.
This year, Lent starts February 21st, so ... there's lots of time for you to ponder whether you want to join me in giving up starting and shopping this Lent.

1 comment:

Shelina said...

I've given up fabric buying and starting new projects for New Year's - this year and last.