4 Lenten Intentions for 2014

I have mixed feelings about Lent. Well, really I should say about religion in general.

But I do want to honor the promise I made when Mike and I got married to raise our children in the Catholic church - to respect him and our family and also I think there are a lot of good lessons we can learn through the church.

I think of Lent (and religion) as a tool or a method that we can use to dig deeper into our lives to find meaning. I know many people "give something up" during Lent - and that can be a very positive thing. I've done it myself. (Here are my 
Lenten Intentions from 2012.) I've also found it helpful in the past to try to do something positive during lent - write letters, get up early to pray or meditate, volunteer - to enrich my experience.


So this year I've decided to do a little bit of each and share some articles that have inspired me:

1) Get outside more with no agenda. Just appreciate nature and being out of the house. Read here for more inspiration.

So far so good on this intention - the weather is cooperating a bit! And Gerry is wearing shoes AND sweatshirts again! ;-)

2) Multitask less. And by multitask I mean stop looking at my iPhone all the dang time. Even (especially!) when I'm playing video games with Gerry or eating. I want to do one thing and enjoy it. Be fully present. No trying to distract myself away from whatever it is I'm doing. I'm doing ok with this. There is always room for improvement! Read here for more inspiration on going without your smartphone from one of my favorite writers.

3) Write more and paint. A friend posted an article about habits of creative people and immediately after reading it I stayed up till 1 am writing. It felt so good. I had been giving myself a needed break but it feels so amazing to be back at it! I also want to do more "Song Art" where I create a painting inspired by listening to a favorite song (over and over.) Here is the article about creative habits.

One of my "Song Art" paintings. Click to share on Facebook.

4) Get rid of some stuff. Organize. This will be a great thing to do for multiple reasons. A) We may move in the near future because.... B) We are getting a puppy in April! Therefore cleaning and organizing are in order whether we move or not - we need to "puppy-proof" this place! Also - spring is around the corner! Spring cleaning always feels so good. 

Here is some GREAT inspiration for Lent and getting rid of stuff during this time.

And the main thing that I am "giving up" is searching for a house. I'm handing that over completely to Mike because it is healthier for me and the kids. I tend to get sucked into a search and keep refreshing the window on my browser a million times a day, instead of just checking once or twice per day to see if there are new listings.  

I didn't really set any "New Year's resolutions" and that felt right. But I've been savoring this year traveling and resting and now I'm ready to dive into a more active phase again. 

Whether you observe Lent or not, whether you are Christian or not, have you set any intentions for yourself recently? What were they? Are you keeping up with them or have your needs changed?