Doing Without...

It's the season of Lent and for the second consecutive year I'm doing without something during the Lenten season. For those of you not familiar with Lent, it's the forty day period of time before Easter Sunday. The period actually covers more than forty days, as Sundays are not counted in the total.

Last year I told myself and others that I would not go on MySpace for the duration of Lent. This year it's both MySpace and Facebook. I know to some it might seem like a trivial sacrifice, but to this computer-loving writer, they're both a nice diversion from the monotony of life. To go without those two sites is a major adjustment to what I do each day.

So, you may ask, what is it this Lenten absence is supposed to accomplish, besides depriving yourself of something you enjoy? While self-discipline is an important part of the season, perhaps the bigger goal is self-reflection. A time to take a look at myself and what I'm doing with my life and perhaps even a glimpse of where I'm headed.

I also have gotten back in contact with other activities that I once held so important. I've ordered a baseball board game and have proceeded to play quite a few games of one of the past times that I used to spend hours of time playing. My father had made reference one day to the amount of time I spent playing the game as a child and then another friend, on Facebook nonetheless, mentioned it on one rainy day. I ordered the game that same day and have enjoyed playing it immensely.

I also have tended to do a lot more writing in my pen-and-paper journal. I used to compose blogs on MySpace or Facebook and had somewhat gotten away from the more-antiquated from of writing. It's been quite refreshing to look forward to sitting down and spending time writing and reflecting on what's going on in my life. This blog is, in fact, a respite from the contstant pen-and-paper journaling that I've been doing for the past week.

I would like to go on record as saying I have seen an increase in anxious thoughts over the past week. I'm not going to say that's because of the change in habits, but then again you never know. It could be that the first week of "doing without" has caused me to examine some parts of my life that I previously had been avoiding.

So I continue on this journey of mine and find myself content and reflective, at least for the time being that is....

David Lee