I am still finalizing my Lent plans but so far it looks like it will be filled with Buddhism (via a series of books by Thich Nhat Hanh on How to Walk, Sit, See, Relax, Fight and Love) and selections by Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers (via a collection by Penguin Books.)
Lent is a season that often blurs the lines between self-reflection/self-exploration and just hitting oneself on the head like the Monks in Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Which while being funny is not a healthy way to spend a season. Too many of us are currently hitting ourselves on the head.
Don't be like the Monty Python Monks instead know that from starlight and stardust you come and starlight and stardust you go, and consider trying one of the 40 following lent activities:
Savoring:
Take a hot shower
Have a cup of tea
Eat 1 piece of chocolate* and let it melt on your tongue
*or yummy food of your choice
Give yourself a miny self-massage
Connecting:
E-mail or write a note to someone
Talk to someone you see every day
Join a group around something you love
Take a friend out for a cup of tea and conversation
Exploring:
Read one piece on a new topic each day
Learn about the experiences of those in an identity group not your own
Watch a Ted Talk or equivalent each day
Listen to a new type of music
Gratitude:
Keep a gratitude journal
Do a random act of kindness each day
Tell someone how they have impacted you
Meditate
Creating:
Create art in any form or medium or expression
Create home-cooked meals (or semi-homecooked meals)
Create a cozy nook in your house or apartment
Plant an indoor plant
Dreaming:
Daydream for an extended period of time
Create a vision board
Honor your dreams with a ceremony
Water the dreams of someone else
Moving:
Have a dance party
Yoga
Go for a walk
Stretch
Reflecting:
Journal
Sit in silence
Speak out loud what you are feeling/thinking
Do a personal inventory
Seeking:
Seek how you can support yourself'
Seek how you can support others
Seek what makes you feel alive
Seek what makes others feel alive
Changing:
Change how you look at yourself
Change how you look at the world
Change how you look at others
Change something so it is more justice filled
My hope for you this Lent is you have a meaningful season of self-reflection.
