So I am nominally Catholic, and even though it’s a Catholic thing to give up something over the Lenten period, other churches have sometimes adopted this as well, and most religions have some observance of abstention at some point during the year.

I remember growing up that we would set an extra empty place at the dinner table, and then donate the cost of the extra meals over the Lenten period to a charity. The idea stayed with me and at certain points in my life I have deliberately fasted in observance of an event or belief. I fasted when the US first went to war, as my private way of registering my moral objection, in solidarity with those being bombed. It would seem silly to most, but I couldn’t go throughout my daily routine, flipping on light switches and water, going to work and coming home, opening the fridge and cooking my dinner – I couldn’t do all that resolutely ignoring the fact that there were people in Afghanistan huddled in their houses in the dark with their children gathered around them, praying for their lives because my government decided they should die.

So even though I don’t generally observe Lent any more, I have been thinking a lot about the meaning behind giving up. For me, going without represents a way of being deliberately conscious, of acting with purpose and intention. Too often I find myself following the path of least resistance, or sleepwalking through day, and the idea behind “giving up” something is a way of making me feel more present.

I am so incredibly fortunate. I have never lived without water or electricity or food. I have never gone without clothing or shelter. And yet, that is not the norm for the majority of people in the world. I think it’s important for me to stop taking the basics for granted, and through my tiny act of self-deprivation, identifying more closely with those who go without, *not* by the luxury of choice, but by default. Those who are wanting, and needing as a matter of everyday survival.

My sacrifices are negligible and I want for nothing of importance in this world – and sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

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