This is why my faith is important to me

(I wrote the following before the Pope resigned. It just so happened that my post this week was about a very basic Catholic belief that coincided with the Pope's timing. I wasn't trying to put the Catholic faith in the spotlight, once again. I'm sorry if anyone feels overwhelmed by Catholicism this week; if you do, however, perhaps you should get outside your comfort zone a little more.)

I oftentimes do not speak about being a Catholic on this blog because I don’t want anyone to feel alienated when they read my posts (which is the opposite of what Catholicism is about). Catholicism gets a bad rap for many reasons; many which I probably don’t have to tell you because you know already. But I swear, not everyone in the Catholic faith is trying to shove religion down your throat. In fact, the majority of priests and nuns I know tend to be the most open-minded people you will ever meet.

The one principle I’ve held onto throughout the years is that first and foremost you do everything with love in mind, and everything else will follow after that. I feel like that should go for any religion, even ones foreign to us like Scientology or Pierce's religion in Community. But it’s true, love people no matter what. I will be the first to admit that I am not always the best at this. I mean, just look at my Nicki Minaj post, I was hardcore judging. But it happens and we are all flawed.

So in case you’re unaware, Lent begins this Wednesday. I know! It was just Christmas. I used to hate this time because it meant I would have to give up something to please my parents and this usually ended up with me giving up cookies and then I was cranky for the next 40 days. 40 days is a long time for a child addicted to sugar. Heck, 40 days is a long time for someone addicted to social media. And that’s why I’m giving it up for the next 40 days.

I’m putting this in writing to see if I can actually do this. I will not be getting on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram for the entire Lenten period. I will, however, be regularly updating my blog as usual because I don't have "friends" on here and can't get updates. I’m doing this partly as a Catholic who wants to do something amazing this year and partly as a social experiment. I’ve been regularly using social media since I got an AIM account in 2004. It’s time to have a break from everything. I'm not trying to show that I am "better" than anyone, by any means. This is a personal decision that I don't expect anyone else to feel obligated to do.

This is either going to horribly blow up in my face, or it’s going to motivate me to have a better life. Hopefully it’s the latter, but if it’s the former, we’re all human, right? Right? It’s not like I’m a horrible person if this doesn’t work out and I flock back to the ways of social media within a week, right? I don’t know, we will see. So I guess all that’s left to do is for me to pray to get through it (ha ha, see what I did there, because this is a post about my Catholicism. Okay I’ll stop).   

(This is the picture I'll be using on my various social media)