Lent… and I don’t mean that dryer stuff

Although not all Christians participate in Lent (I believe it’s more of a traditional thing), our church and family do. I think growing up in Louisiana where everyone celebrates Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, I had to learn the significance of the celebration and the meaning. Way, way back in the day, the Catholic Church established a fast that would last 40 days leading up to Easter. The 40 days would start on Ash Wednesday, so the day before was supposed to be one super huge feast and celebration to get you through the next 40 days. I can’t imagine fasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter, so clearly Fat Tuesday was serious business. It’s like a bear eating tons of food to add up a hefty fat storage right before it goes into hibernation for a season.

Nowadays, the tradition lives on, but it doesn’t demand total starvation for 40 days. It’s customary to give up certain things for the duration of Lent season. In the past, I have given up things like eating after 7:30 PM, cokes (soft drinks/sodas, not the drug), fried foods (so difficult!), and sucking my finger (that was a long time ago like 1st or 2nd grade).

This Lent season, I have decided to give up cookies. Oh, cookies! They are my downfall. No more chocolate chip, oatmeal, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, shortbread, Girl Scout, sugar-frosted, Oreo… I should stop. No Cookies! Not even on Sunday (which Sundays are not counted in the 40 days). I also decided to do something different this year. Not only have I committed to subtracting cookies from my life, but I’ve also committed to adding exercise to my life. Everyday, I must actively exercise. I count taking Beta for a walk as exercise (if you tried to walk him on leash, you’d agree it’s a workout), doing self-led yoga, and Wii. Oh, how I love the Wii. It keeps track of minutes and progress and is ridiculously fun.

Lent also makes me more aware of my faith, and lately, I’ve been more contemplative of God, Christianity, the human condition, other religions, freedom, philosophy, politics, and how in the world are we supposed to make sense out of all of this. Just for today, I have constructed a concept may while sitting at my desk, waiting for those work-related emails to trickle in. It’s quite basic, but I figure a concept map is supposed to be pretty basic, showing correlations and main ideas.
 
 
 

 
Hmmm... I took a picture of my computer screen.  I'm not sure if it'll get larger when clicked on...(?).
 
After Easter, I will be eating a Mrs. Field's cookie cake.  The entire thing!!!