Lent is a 40-day religious season of prayer, fasting, and repentance that represents the time Jesus Christ spent resisting Satan’s temptation in the desert. It begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts until Easter.
During this season, Catholics abstain from meat, increase their prayers, and choose to restrict a tempting part of their lives. Some choose alcohol, most choose sweets; I chose TikTok. Usually, I’d choose Starbucks or chocolate for my fast, but this time, I decided to switch it up. By restricting my TikTok use, I forced myself to dedicate more time to more important areas. That time went towards studying, going out, and reading. I would typically doomscroll TikTok when I got home, as a convenient part of my daily ritual. Removing it, however, forced me to consume either slow-paced media, such as shows and movies or do something more productive entirely. This really helped my work ethic, especially around exam season. Stretches replaced my TikTok breaks between study sessions, and late-night scrolling was replaced with late-night reading.
While this may not seem like the massive sacrifice you expected, I’d like to point out that many Lenten fasts, like New Year’s resolutions, are often broken early on if they are too ambitious. Choosing a more reasonable and helpful fast is better than saying you’ll swear off every temptation in your daily life for 40 days, only to return to them 72 hours later. Reasonable fasts like alcohol are understandable for people who are unhappy with their drinking habits, but need a good reason to keep them away. Having a set period of time within which to limit their consumption makes it that much more realistic, allowing for Catholics to better their minds, bodies, and faith at the same time.
During Lent, you are allowed to “cheat” your fast every Sunday. If you choose food this is perfect since it provides the opportunity to ease your cravings after a week of restraint. However, on the day of rest, I found myself not really wanting to doomscroll as I usually would. In fact, I barely touched the 30-minute limit I had set for every other day of fasting. My own indifference really surprised me, as it was a huge change from just a few weeks prior, when hours of screen time were the norm.
Most people struggle with the same overconsumption of media that I do, and you don’t have to be religious to overcome it. While I can safely say that I am not completely detached from my dependence on media, I am certainly better off because of my fast. For anyone who sees the damage done by constantly scrolling, consider taking some time away from it or simply limiting your daily screen time, and you’ll slowly release yourself from its grasp. That is what I learned from Lent this year.