Lent Day 11 Lesson: where ever you go, there you are

So today I have gotten a few things done. Yesterday...not so much. I didn't get out of bed until 3. In my defense I went to bed at 1 a.m. so that should count for something. I really needed the sleep. I also wonder if I was subconsciously sleeping through the better part of the day so I wouldn't have so many hours to fill without the use of Media.

Speaking of Media, I actually watched some things on youtube Friday night. Yes, this counts as Media, but I'm not beating myself up over it. There was some drama that I kept dwelling on and couldn't get the big bad scary thoughts to leave so I needed a distraction. Media is good for escapism.

As I talked about with someone recently, if all you do during Lent is follow rules you're missing the point. It's about growing not about denying yourself something. Through the removal of a common vice or habit or substance you push yourself out of your comfort zone and find out what you've really been missing. God sets the agenda, not you.

That being said, one of the things I ended up viewing is so awesome I have to post it. It will help if you are a fan of Disney and other cartoon movies (the good ones, like Classic Disney...I'll spare you my rant) and also if you are somewhat familiar with Pride and Prejudice (2005).

Isn't it awesome? Doesn't it make you so happy? They have them for other movies too, like Moulin Rouge! Titanic, 10 Things I Hate About You. Apparently there are contests. Anyway, like I said, it was a pretty good distraction.

More to come this week. I'm starting to realize that simply removing Media from the equasion does not magically reset my default to "Christine will become a doer instead of a thinker and achieve all her goals and dreams". It would be nice if that was how it works. So far I've done more yoga, practiced more Spanish, spent more time with people (all good things) and still sat around thinking about writing/sewing/gardening/cooking etc. (not a good thing). It's like that saying "Where ever you go, there you are." Changing my environment is not enough. Effort must be made on my part.

Where is my "On" button?

Shalom

Lent Day 8: the real Day 8

I really was mixed up on my days, don't know how that happened. My apologies for not posting last night. I was dealing with a technological difficulty with my previous phone. I say previous because after it wiped out my phone book with no warning and then died and refused to come back to life, I now have a new phone.

Old phone:

New phone:

Hello Blackberry!

To celebrate this momentous occassion (new phone and officially becoming an adult aka not being on my parents phone plan anymore) I decided to dismember my former companion a la hammer.

Before:

After:

Then I backed over it with my car:

It looked pretty much the same as after I smashed it with the hammer but it did make a lovely crunching sound. I made sure to put it behind the driver's side wheel so I could hear/feel it crack. Kinda morbid in a strange girl vs. technology way but all in good fun. I would have been more pleased if I could have reduced it to twisted scrap metal or had a huge hammer made of lead but still a good day.

Sometimes you just have to destroy whatever it is that's holding you back. When you are burdened by something, or go through something painful or tiring or just negative, destruction can be a great way to let go.

My friends and I in high school would get together at the end of the school year to have a bonfire and burn all our schoolwork (that we didn't want to keep. Because let's face it, I'm a nerd and I still have my AP US History notes. I love you Mrs. Andes!)

Whatever it is you need to tear up, rip apart, burn or wreck in order to move on with your life I highly recommend doing it. There's a reason that person who sings that song Before He Cheats or whatever it is (I can never remember names) does that to her ex's car. I'm not saying you should be that drastic but if you're holding on to something that reminds you of a bad experience it's time to get it out of your life.

Also, if it's something like old notes or letters or pictures etc. try ripping them to shreds first and then burning them or what have you. Watching something burn is fun but so is tearing. You know, happy thoughts.

Editor's Note: Kudos and eprops to my mom for the idea of putting it in a ziplock first and also running over it with my car. Both excellent ideas. You know me I would've just started whacking at it and gotten broken phone guts all over my pretty clothes.

Shalom

Lent Day Ate

So today I did it! I came home and I was super-productive! No naps! I went to the store, vacuumed, scrubbed, washed the dishes, had a snack, practices yoga, visited with friends and cooked dinner, did the laundry, took a shower, and practiced Spanish!

No wonder I'm so tired.

Two things I wanted to share about today:

Numero Uno: The meal I helped to make tonight with some friends was entirely vegetarian. And I don't just mean there was no meat. I mean there was a vegetable medley and something made out of soy protein and I ate it! And I loved it! I had seconds. It was crazy. Who knew veggie tortilla burritos could be so good?

Caroline will be so proud when I tell her.

Numero Dos: I'm learning Spanish. I've been wanting to for a long time. I tried a few different things, and seriously considered getting Rosetta Stone (but I currently don't have an extra 600 or so just lying around). Then my mom found this site:

http://www.livemocha.com/

It's incredible! Basically it's the same thing as Rosetta Stone but it's FREE! I mean you can purchase advanced courses etc but right now I'm on my second unit of Spanish 101 and I haven't spent anything but time practicing. And I'm really learning too! It's not just some rote memorization. There are pictures, puzzles, audio...you get critiqued by native speakers who are also part of the site learning another language. And there are several languages to choose from. After I finish with Spanish I'm moving on to French and then Hindi (so maybe I can watch all my Bollywood movies without the subtitles. It'll be fun practice anyway).

If you've ever wanted to learn another language but haven't been able to make it stick you should try this site. Don't just wish you had. Trust me, once you start and you see your success you want to keep going with it.

Because if you really wanted to do something, you'd be doing it!

Shalom

Lent Day Six: I'm on a slow boat to ...India :)

I have this bad habit of not going to bed until the wee hours of the morning. By wee I really mean 12-1ish usually. Still not a good habit to have if you're a "grown-up" with a full time job.

During Lent however this takes on a whole new meaning. I'm tired when I get home so I usually have to take a nap. The naps I take usually don't last as short as I mean them to. So I lose a lot of "getting stuff done" time and then I'm don't go to bed until oh...12 to 1ish.

It's a vicious cycle.

That said I did study some Spanish tonight and look up a lot of info on the web about different things. I might read up on Mythology in a little bit (one of the many subjects I've always wanted to know more about). I've just got to break out of this cycle.

I wanted to go ahead and start writing some of the reviews of Bollywood that I mentioned earlier. I know, you're probably thinking "Bollywood? Is she serious?"

Absolutely I am.

Bollywood is amazing. For me it started one night when I randomly thought of Aishwarya Rai

http://www.hollywood-celebrity-pictures.com/Celebrities/Aishwarya-Rai/Aishwarya-Rai-2.JPG

I know, it's a big picture right? Her face is BAM there! and you're like "whoa!" If you've ever seen Bride and Prejudice it's a Hollywood version of a Bollywood version of P&P. Not nearly as good as a real Bollywood but still amusing. She's the "Lizzie" character.

Anyway, I found this movie on youtube called Jodhaa Akbar a few months ago. I watched it on a Friday night. Then again on Saturday...and Sunday, and Monday. Then on Tuesday I bought it from Amazon. It is epic and in this reviewers opinion, rivals Hollywood epic movies in scope, cinematography, story, acting, and music.

It's about a Muslim ruler who has an arranged marriage with a Hindu princess. Then they fall in love. Let's just say if I was on a deserted island this would be on my list 5 movies I'd have with me (along with P&P, don't worry). A.R. Rahman does the music (Slumdog Millionaire, another one of my 5) and he is brilliant as usual.

Bollywood is different from Hollywood certainly. Yes, there are song and dance sequences in almost every movie. In the mountains, in the snow, with multiple costume changes. You'll either love it or you'll hate it. I happen to love it. There also isn't any sex and barely any kissing (this can be very hard to accept by many Western viewers, like my friend Niki who was constantly trying to push the actors heads together on screen with her hands). There is a huge importance placed on family and honoring parents, tradition, and religion. Very different from the West.

Anyway, here are a couple of videos of Bollywood song sequences. One is from Dhoom 2, a more Western story about thieves (similar to Entrapment Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones) with Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan (Indian Heartthrob times 10)

Not to shabby hmm? Hrithik Roshan is considered one of if not THE best dancer in Hindi film today. This next one is from the movie Dil Se which I have not seen but my mom has (yep, I got her into Hindi movies as well). I just love the song. It gets in your head! And the word meanings are pretty interesting too. Song of Solomon anyone? It is of course, a more traditional Bollywood sequence.

Anyway, more on Bollywood later and other topics as well. Until then,

Shalom

Lent Day ...Five?

What day of Lent is it? I'm guessing it's five. Today was pretty good. Nothing much to tell, I've been around people a lot. People. That's a funny looking word. People.

Good heavens, people!

Anyway, whilst celebrating a friend's birthday at Cheddars today I heard a very interesting sounding song that I didn't actually recognize. So I of course excused myself to the restroom (where the music is loud and clear). Memorized some lyrics and found it online tonight. Such a great sound.

I know that Niki has been a big fan of his for years but I never payed him that much attention until now. Someone said he was Otis Redding reincarnated or something like that. I think they may be right. And he's from Scotland :)

This week I have no plans so I'm guessing that the Lent experiments are really going to have to kick in now. I've been with people for the past 6 days, very little time to myself, definitely out of the norm. Now is the time to get my game face on. Put the pedal to the metal.

vroom vroom

Shalom

Lent Day Four: I Skipped One

Today has been really great. I'm spending the weekend with friends and I've had some great conversations, very little media (I'm not going to inhibit others from media but I don't seek it out). I love how when you turn off the television the conversation has room to come in.

I remember my first summer working at camp, the TV in the SHO (staff hang out) was broken so we talked, we played cards. Then they bought a new bigscreen tv. The movies turned on, the video games were brought in. You walk in on any given night after people have come back from dinner, the lights are off and you can barely make out peoples faces in the flickering light of the screen. No one is talking.

Today I spent the day with my boyfriend, had a burger, walked the dogs, it was a beautiful day outside. Tonight there's bowling. Active and social all in one! I'm really happy with the way things have gone this week but I'm also ready to get back home so I can get to work on my many projects. I also bought some material today to make an apron. I wish I was the kind of girl who made her own clothes and was just fabulous all the time. I think it would be tiring though to always be dressed to the nines. Some days I just want to be wearing jeans and an oversized t-shirt (like I am now). But at least I'm getting started with something. I have a lot of ideas for posts from Bollywood to cooking to thoughts on relationships. I just need some down time to sort them all out. Until then,

Shalom

Lent Day Two: Where's the Noise?

So today was a bit different. I came home with the general feeling of...okay what next? I'm not really sure how to begin doing all the things I always wanted to do but never made time for. And, as expected, it is very VERY quiet.

I talked to God some while I ate dinner and then I talked on the phone to about 5 different people for about 2 hours. Not that I was running away from the silence and my own expectations (not completely anyway) but people that I needed to catch up with or check on. It's been good so far. No brilliant epiphanies of greatness but not too awful. And I now have weekend plans so that's a plus.

I think this Lent is definitely going to push me to be more social. I was thinking earlier that this whole thing would be a lot easier if I had roomates. Instead, whereas before I would come home turn on the tv or get on the internet and not feel so lonely whilst being quite alone, I have to realize that I am by myself most of the time and there's nothing to help fill it but God, friends, and my own creative spark. Here sparky sparky!

I did make a list tonight of all the things I wished I did. Here's a small sampling:

have a garden: geraniums, lavender, sage, basil, that hot pink ivy that I don't know the name of

sew my own clothes

learn to Bollywood dance (more posts to come about my obsession with Hindi movies)

learn Spanish

recite poetry: poe, cummings, neruda, seuss

write short stories

follow a daily skin care routine

I'm going to reorganize the list later into categories like Health, Skills, Novelty tricks, etc. I did find something interesting when I was searching the internet earlier for Lent ideas. For anyone who is new to the idea of observing Lent or to read some really cool articles check out

bustedhalo.com

It's a website run by Catholics but it has articles from all sorts of walks, Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Jewish, pagan even. They're pretty good stuff and if you're interested in conversations about faith and not opposed to listening to someone very different from you I highly recommend it. It also (and here is the helpful part for all the Lenten Virgins out there) has a calendar for Lent that includes a daily quote and three things to do to make yourself more aware of God during your day. Todays quote comes from Mother Theresa and the three things include not complaining and instead offering encouragement to others.

If you're open to the conversations I also suggest reading the articles whose titles excite you ... and also the ones that make you squeamish or irk you in some way. Because if the only voices you listen to sound just like your own the song gets pretty boring.

That's why God invented Harmony.

Shalom

Lent Day One: Ash Wednesday

So far today hasn't been that hard Lent-wise. My brother (Joel Rudy) came over to hang out and then we went to the ER to take care of another friend of ours. Which sounds like a drag but it was probably the most fun I've ever had in a hospital. I feel proud of myself. I've been social three times this week already and it's only Wednesday.

I was going to write about something else but I can't remember what. I wanted to talk about some of my goals, what it was like to start out today, something really profound.

Instead, God had me helping someone and being with friends. I'm really glad that I got to be there for someone who is always there for me and to be able to help someone else. That's what a fast is supposed to be all about. Not about what you give up but what you do with what you are given. It was a great way to start this season.

I did want to clarify that while I will be staying away from Media in general, there are amendments where it is allowed, so long as it is for a specific purpose like reaching a long time dream/goal/wishful thinking idea.

Example: I never exercise. Ever. But I plan to start walking most days after work. However I'm pretty sure that idea is going to lose momentum fast if I don't have some music to put the spring in my step. Then, and only then, will I be listening to anything. This morning I turned my radio off as soon as I got in the car. That's okay. Most mornings I'm too groggy to appreciate music anyway.

I'm going to sign off for now. Hopefully God will give me some time to be more introspective in the future. Until then, Shalom.

And by the way, my friend is going to be okay. Check Joel Rudy's facebook for more updates about that.

2 Days and Counting

Lent begins this Wednesday. When I had figured out what I would do for Lent this year I was excited and nervous but it seemed so far away. Now that it's right here staring me in the face I'm feeling a lot less excitement and a lot more dread. Am I crazy for doing this?

Everything in me wants to back out and choose something easier or to allow myself some comfort, books or the radio in my car. Something. But I know that I have to be true to the standard I set almost 2 months ago.

46 days media free.

I am voluntarily putting myself in the woods a couple of centuries ago, entertainment wise anyway. There will be no input and the only output will be what I create for myself. Who knows what that will be. Why try?

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life... I wanted to live so sturdily and so Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life... to drive life into a corner to know it by experience and be able to give an account of it in my next excursion.

I've never read Walden but I think Thoreau had some interesting ideas. If life is, as Donald Miller says, my story and it's my responsibility to make it a good one I think it's time to shut off the television, close the book, turn down the noise and live my own story.