Today, I had the pleasure of observing a day that had for years been foreign to me. This day, Pancake Day, is also known a Shrove Tuesday and has its roots in the Christian practice of Lent, in which observers of the faith give up something they value. Many may wonder what Pancakes have to do with all of this ; the quick answer is that this day is seen as the last day to have a indulgent feast where ingredients like sugar and eggs are present. Curiously enough, I do not observe this practice of lent for any religious reasons, but I’ve been thinking that it would be interesting to entertain such a practice for purely secular reasons. There are plenty of things that I waste time on, and I suppose it would be a healthy practice to give those things up for a period. My hope is that I would gain some sort of discipline, or newfound strength out of this practice.
All that is left now is to decide what I should give up. Hmmm…
The first thing that comes to mind is certainly my technological obsessions. I certainly spend copious amounts of time clicking around on twitter, facebook, and other pointless social media services, so this may be the ideal place to start. For most kids, the most obvious thing to give up would be video games, but I don’t really play them often enough to feel any sort of impact . Another thing that comes to mind is my cell phone, which I utilize heavily ; however much of this is for critical communication purposes(or at least I like to think so), nonetheless, I could cut down on the text messaging considerably.
Alright, the decision has been made. I will attempt to use my computer less frequently. It will be a bit difficult to regulate this, but I will attempt to fulfill this goal. The main problem is that so much of my important school work and leisure work become intertwined. That is, the distinction between what is important, and what is pointless is hard to discern sometimes, especially when they all live in the same Safari window. The advent of tabs may be considered a mixed blessing in the productivity world. It is so easy for me to make the excuse that yes, what I am doing is important…disregard that tab with College Humor videos, that is purely for academic reasons you see. To make the assertion that I, in any way, am just goofing around and watching videos is absurd. Those are the sort of excuses the mind makes for not doing any real work. It’s best to stifle that voice and pay attention to the murmurs from the other compartments of your brain. The loudest one is not necessarily correct.
Since many of the writers on the blog observe Lent, it would be interesting for them to share what they are giving up. And for the readers who do not, a hypothetical would be good as well. There seem to be some practices that seem to transcend their religious roots. Why not give something up and see how it goes. You can do this for purely secular reasons and yield a similar beneficial result. Let’s see what happens!
