Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Lent! *applause*

(…I’m 99% sure I’ve used that joke in a blog post title before. But I haven’t on this blog, so now it’s fresh! Shh, I never told you this, it’s a secret.)

I know giving up something for Lent is traditionally a Catholic thing, and I’m not Catholic, but my mom was, so I think that kind of counts. I started giving something up for Lent when I was in college, working for the Protestant Chapel Community (PCC) of the University of Rochester. I believe my official title was “secretary,” but I was really the Proprietor of Awesome. Sure, I made the weekly bulletins and newsletters, but I also painted awesome giant signs to hang in Wilson Commons as well as cook soup (or, on occasion, spaghetti) for the Wednesday Evening Dinner Dialogues. I loved my job. It was the best. Anyway, I spent a good amount of time at the Interfaith Chapel and regularly interacted with the other communities that inhabited the space.

As it so happened, I shared my office with the secretary for the Newman (Catholic) community and the secretary for the Hillel (Jewish) community – who also happened to be Catholic. (Weird, I know, but they were both “real” employees [read: not college students] of their respective communities, so I guess the people working there had to actually have real experience and stuff and so each community opted for someone who could handle the amount of work, regardless of religion. The Catholics lucked out, Hillel did not.)

It was through them that I really saw the effects of giving up something during Lent. Out of the three years I worked there, I can really only remember one thing that was given up. The ladies (and gentlemen who volunteered for Newman) decided to give up cursing for Lent. Now, inevitably, they cursed. Hello, they had around 4,000 donation requests they had to send out. But this was okay! They had a caveat – you curse, you pay up. A dollar per swear, with the proceeds going to the Newman community at the end of Lent. I’m pretty sure they ended up raising over $100. With only 40 days of Lent, that’s not too shabby!

When I saw what giving up something for Lent really looked like, it intrigued me. My second year working with the PCC, I decided to join the lovely Catholic ladies and give up something myself. I started with the basics – caffeine. Honestly, though, that’s a college kid’s nightmare at the time. Giving up the life force that gets you to your 9:00 AM class and keeps you up through the theatre group rehearsals that lasted at times until midnight. At least, that’s how it felt.

I remember the first few days of caffeine withdrawal were hard. I got headaches. I was used to getting my morning coffee and my body was NOT PLEASED with my lack of stimulant. But  – by the grace of baby Jesus – I powered through.

Caffeine withdrawal. True suffering. My personal crucifixion.

I ended up giving up caffeine every year for the next four or five years for Lent. I don’t even know why. I know you’re supposed to reflect on what you’re giving up and why you’re giving it up, but I think after a few years it just became a habit. I prepared myself in advance. Switched to half-caf and tea a few weeks prior. Didn’t do much praying on the thing, just… did it because I felt obligated.

Last year I didn’t give up anything. Really, I had a crummy year in general and faith-wise was pretty weak. Things perked up for me in 2011 however, because I ended up going to a new church which I couldn’t be more pleased with. I started to feel more Christian-y again. Needless to say, when Lent rolled around this year, I once again mulled over what I should give up.

After pondering about it, it was clear that the choice wasn’t hard. One should give up a vice. Something that one “can’t live without”… but really can. Something that will allow oneself to improve their character. It was with great sadness that I gave up my biggest vice.

Facebook.

Last Wednesday, I pulled the plug on my Facebook usage. Removed the link from my favorites. Deleted the app from my phone. And just to make it a little more enticing, I got rid of the other sites with which I was having some, ah… shall we say… time management issues. Twitter. Reddit. Checking these sites multiple times a day, whenever I had a free moment, was clearly inhibiting my ability to function as a normal human being. I would regularly check Facebook/Twitter/Reddit upwards of 30 times a day. And I’m pretty sure that’s a conservative estimate. Oh, and that’s per site. Not total.

Yeah, it was that bad.

The story of my Facebook obsession is not at all unfamiliar. It’s not like there was ever anything that interesting, and, if I’m being honest, I’m not really friends with half of the people whose status updates appear on my wall – lots of acquaintances, not a lot of friends. And I didn’t really care that their favorite TV show had an awesome episode or about their political affiliations or their car had a flat, FML. No, I cared none about these things. I just read them because… I can.

Thus, no Facebook for me. I find myself not missing what other people are saying at all. In fact, the part I miss the most is updating my own status. I keep thinking of witty snippets that I could use as status update. I may not be a comedian, but I think that my foray into observational humor that I express via Facebook status is indeed successful. My emoticon expression whenever I feel these high-larious thoughts pass through my head is always .

I’m sure I’ll get over it, I’m sure. I’m already heading in the right direction by starting to blog again. What’s better than a witty snippet? How about a… bodacious blog? (Sorry, I really liked the assonance in “witty snippet” and wanted to find something adequate to follow it up with. That was my first thought. I apologize for having to expose you to it. It wasn’t nearly as good.)

Anyway, blogging/writing more was one of my replacements for obsessively checking Facebook. Others include playing the piano, doing yoga, paying attention to my puppy, and running. Oh, I signed up for the Broad Street Run again. I may be a sucker for punishment, as I am not in any way, shape, or form a runner. Swimmer, yes. Runner, no.

But that’s a story for another day.

In regards to how people will read my blog if I can’t post it on Facebook… here’s my cheat. I have this automatically set to post to Facebook. And I know it’s something I can turn off and I know it’s something that isn’t necessary, but I figured I’m actually writing my blog, and the fact that it’s posting itself to Facebook isn’t really “going on Facebook.” It’s not spending hours looking at peoples’ statuses and clicking on links and trying to think of something fun to say. It’s actually spending time writing. Which is something that I wanted to do in the first place. So, if you’re reading this on Facebook, please find your way over to my blog: Alas… I Digress. if you want to say anything. As I will obviously not be reading comments if they’re posted on Facebook.

At least, not until April 25th. Maybe. We’ll see!

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