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Once again, I’m feeling expectant for Lent to begin next week. I feel comfort in blocks of time with clear beginnings and endings, especially if those blocks aren’t too long! I’ll never be a 100 Days of _________ (fill in the blank with the project of your choice) kind of girl. But forty days. I can do that.
If you’re someone who observes Lent, you’re familiar with the tradition of giving something up. Last year, I gave up Instagram. In years past, it was sugar. This year, rather than giving up something, I’m releasing something. And that something is an addiction to my ridiculously long TO DO LIST in my over-the-top organized massive paper planner. (Did anyone say Control Freak?) I have a feeling forgoing Instagram and Mint Milanos will be easier.
You see, determining my worth by how much I accomplish each and every day runs deep in my bones. This season I want to be still. I want to be open to interruptions from beloved humans.
This feels rather abstract, more like a state of mind, but how it will look in the real world is THREE THINGS on my list each day. I can do more, but THREE THINGS is fine. More than fine. I won’t go into the minutiae of what can and can’t count as those three things (mostly because I don’t know yet and also boring!), but I’m confident it will be obvious when I’m in the moment. My hope is to be aware of the fact that the world (and my tiny life) will continue existing if I don’t get everything done. It’s a faith and humility thing which is a good place to be during Lent. (Hopefully, this will carry over to observing Sabbath more regularly, but that’s another conversation!)
For me, Lent is also a season of adding something to my life, which might seem like a reversal of what I wrote about above…with me being STILL and all, but one of the ways I enter into stillness and rest and general well-being is by making things and being creative. The process opens my mind and generally makes me more enjoyable to be around. Plus, the things I make are pretty (at least to me) so that’s adding some beauty to the world.
I think we’re called to be creative by God (Ya know, all those good verses in Genesis!).1
Thus, Creative Lent was born in my head. I CANNOT WAIT! (Irony: Here’s where my obsessive planning skills are put to good use so we’ve definitely got a push and pull rhythm happening here…some Lent mental dissonance you might say.)
Basically, during the seven weeks of Lent, I’m going to do a different creative project each week, Monday through Friday, for about an hour each day. Trust me, this will slap right up against letting go of my TO DO list because it will take time away from my TO DO list. I’ll have to practice releasing it.
Options for projects are endless. I’m about to list the projects I’m doing but I want to make a big ole disclaimer.
Please know that I have ALL of these supplies on hand. Yes, I had to spend time gathering them, but none of them are a stretch for me. I think that has to be the point if you choose to do your own Creative Lent. Our brains and souls can’t be super distracted by learning something new and hard. For me, this is a reverent process that happens with ease. Keep it a version of simple that works for you.
Here are the projects I plan to do:
Week 1: Afternoon Altars, based on THIS BOOK called Morning Altars.
If you go to the author’s website (Day Schildkret), you can download a PDF of the steps he uses to make his altars, and there are lots of pretty images that inspire as well.
Week 2: Stations of the Garden.
I’m going to write Bible verses on extra large plant labels which I’ll place in my garden so I see them when strolling in my backyard. (I show you an example of the label in the video below.)
Week 3: Slow Stitching (based on a Sashiko stitch pattern from Zen Stitching).
This looks hard, but I have NO embroidery skills and it’s actually easy (if you follow Kate’s awesome instructions). It’s basically repeated rice-sized straight stitches that form geometric patterns. I’m obsessed.
Week 4: Lent Letters with Gel Prints.
I’m making Easter cards which I’ll mail to family in Texas and California.
Week 5: Watercolors in the Garden based on THIS BOOK called Colors In and Out of the Garden.
Week 6: LentKU.
There’s no way I was doing Creative Lent without a week of writing beloved haiku. (By the way, in 2018, that’s what I did for all of Lent. I wrote one haiku a day. It was awesome. Nothing says you can’t do ONE kind of creative pursuit for the entirety of Lent!)
Week 7: Sit in Silence
It’s about time, right! This will be the hardest week for me. On the last day, right before Easter, I’ll write a letter to Jesus about my Lent journey. I’ll seal the letter and open it on Ash Wednesday next year.
So I can enter into each creative session with most of the decisions already made (which increases the likelihood that I’ll actually do it!), here’s the rhythm I plan to follow.
And of course, I made a cute journal to go with my Lenten journey. Even though this took a bit of time to make (but also not much due to fabulous Canva), I think it’s setting me up for success because I think it’s going to be hard to take time away from my TO DO list. The journal (as you’ll see from the video below) guides me. Plus, big bonus, I can return to the same journal for two more Lent seasons. I don’t have to reinvent the wheel which I love!
So that’s it! I plan to do lots of show and tell during Lent with quick posts and maybe some live video if I’m feeling courageous! But, hey, I will also prioritize NOT checking that task off my TO DO list if that’s where the Holy Spirit is leading me, so keep your expectations low!
If you observe Lent, I’d love to know what you’re doing or NOT doing. Please share and let me know if you decide to do your own version of Creative Lent.
Always writing,
P.S. If you’d like any PDF’s of the pages in my Creative Lent Journal, I’m happy to share. Here’s a LINK made just for you!
P.S.S. If you’d like more thrilling Lent content, here’s last year’s Lent post plus our church podcast, hosted by the amazing Hunter Babcock, as we talk about Simple Lent: We All Have Stories.
My two favorite books about the calling of being creative are Create Anyway by Ashlee Gadd and Art + Faith by Makoto Fujimura.
This is an interesting idea for Lent. I have tried to be less conventional toward lent but I hadn’t considered your ideas before. Cool.
What a great idea.