Lenten Fast

Usually it doesn’t take much thought for me to decide what to give up for Lent.  One year it was chocolate, another it was buying yarn, another it was all shopping online (even browsing).  One year in addition to giving up something, I chose to also use it as a time to be more aware of my personal behavior and change some ingrained habits that made me…and others…unhappy.

This year, I was really racking my brain trying to think of what I could do during this forty day period that would have a positive impact on my family and help us to think of the many people in our world for whom going without isn’t limited to 40 out of 365 days.  What we have decided to do is something a little more intense and drastic than anything we’ve done before.  For the period of Lent, we are embarking on a bit of an adventure that stops just short of being voluntary poverty.

There are many different aspects of what we are planning, some easy (no going out to eat) and some harder (no buying anything non-food unless it affects our health or welfare), and some in between.  We will be dedicated to trying to put on ourselves the same restrictions that many of our fellow humans around the world have, such as only purchasing food if we can get it locally and it will fit in our diminished food budget.  We will have to be much more vigilant than ever about ensuring that not a single thing goes to waste.  The television and video games will be unplugged, much to the chagrin of our children. 

So this affects my crafting life pretty significantly.  I won’t be buying yarn or even browsing online to look at beautiful spun fiber; nor will I be indulging the senses by going to yarns stores to pet the pretties.  I won’t be buying any new craft supplies.  I’m not even going to think about what new creative tools I can acquire when Lent is over.  I’m going to live with what I have and nothing else.  I’m hoping that a nice side effect of this freeze on bringing new items into the house will inspire me to look more closely at what I do have and think of new ways to use it.  Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of these ideas, along with thoughts on creating for free or on the cheap.