This year I am so excited about Lent that I wish it would just start now. It's Monday evening and I can't wait until Ash Wednesday. After much prayer and pondering I feel led my God to make some very big daily changes in my life.
This year I will be fasting from
💗 noise
💗 social media (instagram)
💗 podcasts
💗 music (except classical)
💗 videos and television completely
It might seem like a strange combination of things to "give up". Listing it like that makes it seem odd to me too. Here's the thing: I do a lot a talking in my profession. I spend my day with 20 nine and ten year olds. I teach and so I talk. That's okay but I need more quiet in my heart, in my soul, in my head.
So giving up "noise" is sort of like the umbrella of everything. I need an "off switch". Although I don't think I spend an excessive amount of time on Insta I do like to get house ideas, books for my classroom ideas and other odds and end ideas. But I need to think about what I like around my house and stop looking at others. I need to go back to the old fashioned way of finding books for my classroom - poking around the quiet library and my own lists I've made over the years.
And podcasts -- I'll especially miss Sally Clarkson. (she's the only one I listen too) but I just need more quiet to hear myself more, my thoughts. I have good ideas to parent my lovely teenagers too. I just need to let my mind rest and follow my heart.
Videos and television - for that it's simply just quiet I need. I need to read more (I'm going on a special trip this June and I want to reread everything Laura Ingalls Wilder has written). And I just need less noise.
I might be fasting on a lot of normal things but I'm pretty sure I'll be feasting on:
💗 more time
💗 loving my girls more intentionally
💗 doing things to nourish my marriage more
💗 space
💗 prayer
💗 thoughts
💗 reaching out to friends
and other things I will just let unfold.
I can hardly wait to get started!
Oh and yes, I will be blogging. This blog is a quiet space for me. I really don't know anyone who still blogs (maybe just one or two) and although years ago a blog was more social media, now it is just a place to hold family memories. I am actually looking forward to giving this blog more attention and love as I fast from other things.
(update)
And this from a post (theyoungcatholicwoman)
Five Reasons Why You Should Give Up Instagram for Lent
1. Noise, Noise Noise
We live in a world FILLED with noise and it only seems to be getting noisier. We were not created to know everything about everything all of the time. We weren't created to know about what a pwerson who live in Italy is doing and what our print she was wearing on any given day. We fill our lives with meaningless chatter, pictures, and videos, and then wonder why we can't concentrate when we pray.
2. Dive Deeper
While Instagram mini thread (like this one) are helpful, they are merely the surface of the depth of Catholicism. Instagram is for instant gratification. One post, while helpful and convicting is not a replacement for the fullness and depth of the writings of the saints and church teachers, or scripture itself. Saying no to Instagram is saying yes to intentional time spent with God.
3. Counter Consumerism
Instagram has become a place for shops to advertise and market themselves. While great for shops, an audience has been curated that is rooted in consumerism with new fashion trends, water bottle, and anything your heart desires. Where does that leave us? Maybe if we admit it to ourselves, with an attachment to material things and an inability to say no.
4. Get Connected (like actually connected)
On Instagram, the uniqueness and intentionality of our creation by our heavenly Creator is reduced to circles and 1- square images. The fullness of a person cannot and will not ever be able to be captured in a screen. I encourage you to actually reach out to a friend and make plans with them, instead of hiding behind a screen and sending memes to them and calling it conversation.
5. Make it Permanent
Lent is a framework for tilling the soil and the sprouting of a habit. It is up to us, through God's grace to maintain it. There's definitely good and bad to Instagram, and as an account that creates and operates primarily on Instagram we recognize this. But the 40 days end and you find yourself not really missing Instagram, maybe don't get back on it. You may find that joy of the Resurrection is better celebrated off your phone!
And click HERE for more really good thoughts on lent.
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