Wednesday 5 March 2014

Lent 2014

Bus ride documentation, June 2011 © Karen Thiessen 2011
If you visit me here on a regular basis, you'll know that I'm a Lent nerd. I've been thinking about Lent 2014 since October 2013 when most people were dreaming of Christmas. In the past I've given up wine (too easy), chocolate (difficult), all sugar (challenging, but interesting). In 2011 I added a "doing" component to the "not doing" and I practiced yoga every day for 15 minutes. It became a habit and I didn't stop. Three years later, I've practiced yoga 1141 days in a row and since January 2013 I've increased my time to 30 minutes a day. Last year I drew from life for 15 minutes a day as my new "doing" component, in addition to giving up chocolate. Drawing from life every day was hard work and I was often frustrated, but this was good for me. This year I've committed to 15 minutes of daily intuitive mark-making as my 2014 Lenten practice, and yes I've given up chocolate again. I've pulled Martin Venezky's book It is Beautiful ... Then Gone and Corita Kent's Learning by Heart: Teachings to free the creative spirit off the shelf to inspire my drawing during the next 46 days.

3 comments:

Judy Martin said...

I love this idea.

Although I do not practice LENT, I do like the idea of the discipline of daily improvement for a set period of time. Thanks.x

Christine said...

I appreciate your habits and suggest that you make marks every day. I gave up pasta and wheat 2 years ago, but struggle still. On Ash Wednesday, I began the Dr. Fuhrman plan of eating like a nutratarian. So far so good. Best of all to you! C

Karen Thiessen said...

Christine, I think daily mark-making will become a long habit. It's very meditative but I don't have to sit still. =)