Writing for Lent

Posted On February 15, 2024

40 days of writing and sharing. Can I commit to it? I happened to get a post in yesterday, so I’m off to a good start! I have actually always loved the idea of Lent, even though I don’t do any kind of distinct religious observation of it. In childhood I remember thinking it meant you had to give up something you loved. Those kinds of practices don’t feel great to me. They often backfire and create a sense of scarcity and shame. But adding something in? I’m interested in that.

I have definitely been a little blocked lately. I have low-level but near constant anxiety about whether or not I’m “living my purpose” and doing what I’m supposed to be doing on this earth. It’s a bizarre preoccupation that I would really like to quiet, or at least to shift into something more productive. I waffle between thinking I’m just a little existentially neurotic or I’m actually hearing a calling from the universe. Maybe it’s a bit of both?

One of the things I do know is that my life is both challenged and enriched through the practice of writing and sharing. I am highly critical of the social media/internet landscape these days and of the way that it seems to be rewiring our minds. So I feel compelled to write and share, but the routes seem a little treacherous. I’ll feel good when I’m writing and in the creative flow, and then I’ll release it, and then there’s too much attachment on the other side. I’ll often feel a kind of crash after sharing these essays on social media. It’s all good feedback. But I have some ideas, some sparks of inspiration that feel generative and clear, so I may be following a new track soon. In the meantime, good ol’ fashioned blogging isn’t too intimidating to me.

Day 2, check!