Well, I'm a little late on the uptake for Lent this year. At least as far as blogging's concerned. My oh my, have things been busy around here lately!
Firstly, I officially survived my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Carnival season seems, to me, very similar to Christmas. There are weeks and weeks of build up and celebration, decorations in stores and every other way there is to celebrate...then the day itself comes along and BAM! It's over. Mardi Gras doesn't just end, either. Now it's Lent, which I think in theory is about as opposite from Carnival as you can get. I still want to share a few more things about Mardi Gras (pictures too, once I steal them from my roommates...), but you'll have to be patient with me on that one. I know you're all (all three of you*...hey Mom) on the edge of your seats waiting. Hang in there.
Since the Mardi Gras festivities ended, I've roadtripped up to Georgia for a weekend, entertained some friends from home, and become an expert at ignoring the growing mound of laundry that needs to be done. That last one will be catching up to me soon...
It seems as though all of these happenings have made it extra challenging to remember Lent this year. Having recently been gifted a really lovely journal, I decided I'd give journaling a go for Lent. It's a discipline I've often wished to observe, but have never been...well, disciplined enough...to keep up. And while I appreciate the sentiment behind sacrificing a thing or two for the season, I've recently become a fan of adding a particular practice instead. So, acknowledging that I have failed more than once at making journaling a part of my life, I decided writing something four times a week seemed equal parts challenging and realistic. Well, so much for the realistic part. I've written off and on, but found myself thinking "oh, I'm busy today, I'll write tomorrow." But isn't that the point of Lent? To be intentional about remembering Christ and his death and resurrection in the midst of life's craziness? Then again, I feel like a lot of Lenten sacrifices or additions tend to have ulterior motives ("I need to eat healthier food, so I'll give up dessert for Lent." or, hypothetically, "I've always wanted to journal, so I'll journal for Lent and hope the habit sticks!"). Oops.
Either way, I haven't given up on journaling. I have given up trying to count four days in each week, and made the switch to daily journaling (three days strong...I'm on a roll!). Also in attempts to actually follow through, I made myself a nice little cup full of journal prompts I found online, some of which are more introspective and challenging than others. I'm not sure I'm writing anything life-changing or all that important, but I'm writing. (I ignored the prompts last night and just wrote a page or so about coffee...) I'm not sure the kind of journaling I'm doing counts as a spiritual discipline exactly, or if it's the "right" way to observe Lent, but it's been rather nice to have another place to ramble. We'll see how it goes.
Rather unrelated: Since when is it March?! Well I mean. Since five days ago. But you know what I mean. It's hard to believe that it's been more than six months since orientation at Stony Point. That's half a year that I've been living in New Orleans. The five months that remain in my YAV year seem all at once like no time at all and like quite the stretch. Funny how that works. There's plenty of time to talk about that later, though.
Love,
Allison.
*Upon hearing reactions from this post I can officially confirm that at least five people read this blog. Makin' it big time!
Firstly, I officially survived my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Carnival season seems, to me, very similar to Christmas. There are weeks and weeks of build up and celebration, decorations in stores and every other way there is to celebrate...then the day itself comes along and BAM! It's over. Mardi Gras doesn't just end, either. Now it's Lent, which I think in theory is about as opposite from Carnival as you can get. I still want to share a few more things about Mardi Gras (pictures too, once I steal them from my roommates...), but you'll have to be patient with me on that one. I know you're all (all three of you*...hey Mom) on the edge of your seats waiting. Hang in there.
Since the Mardi Gras festivities ended, I've roadtripped up to Georgia for a weekend, entertained some friends from home, and become an expert at ignoring the growing mound of laundry that needs to be done. That last one will be catching up to me soon...
It seems as though all of these happenings have made it extra challenging to remember Lent this year. Having recently been gifted a really lovely journal, I decided I'd give journaling a go for Lent. It's a discipline I've often wished to observe, but have never been...well, disciplined enough...to keep up. And while I appreciate the sentiment behind sacrificing a thing or two for the season, I've recently become a fan of adding a particular practice instead. So, acknowledging that I have failed more than once at making journaling a part of my life, I decided writing something four times a week seemed equal parts challenging and realistic. Well, so much for the realistic part. I've written off and on, but found myself thinking "oh, I'm busy today, I'll write tomorrow." But isn't that the point of Lent? To be intentional about remembering Christ and his death and resurrection in the midst of life's craziness? Then again, I feel like a lot of Lenten sacrifices or additions tend to have ulterior motives ("I need to eat healthier food, so I'll give up dessert for Lent." or, hypothetically, "I've always wanted to journal, so I'll journal for Lent and hope the habit sticks!"). Oops.
Either way, I haven't given up on journaling. I have given up trying to count four days in each week, and made the switch to daily journaling (three days strong...I'm on a roll!). Also in attempts to actually follow through, I made myself a nice little cup full of journal prompts I found online, some of which are more introspective and challenging than others. I'm not sure I'm writing anything life-changing or all that important, but I'm writing. (I ignored the prompts last night and just wrote a page or so about coffee...) I'm not sure the kind of journaling I'm doing counts as a spiritual discipline exactly, or if it's the "right" way to observe Lent, but it's been rather nice to have another place to ramble. We'll see how it goes.
Rather unrelated: Since when is it March?! Well I mean. Since five days ago. But you know what I mean. It's hard to believe that it's been more than six months since orientation at Stony Point. That's half a year that I've been living in New Orleans. The five months that remain in my YAV year seem all at once like no time at all and like quite the stretch. Funny how that works. There's plenty of time to talk about that later, though.
Love,
Allison.
*Upon hearing reactions from this post I can officially confirm that at least five people read this blog. Makin' it big time!
No comments:
Post a Comment