To all the cool kids out there...
How is it that I live with four other girls but it seems like none of them are home right now? Maybe it's just because it's a Friday night and I'm just a tad lame...not that I'm complaining. If I were constantly surrounded by all four of them I'd probably go nuts.
That said, I am indeed alive and still exist on the interwebs. Almost two weeks ago I got back from my aspirancy with the cloistered Dominican nuns of the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Farmington Hills, MI. It was basically a time where I got to live with them inside the enclosure and follow their schedule and do what they did, including participating in all of their communal prayers, Mass, chores, classes, and recreation time. It was pretty awesome. I don't know if many people would feel the same if they weren't called to this vocation, so I'm taking that as a pretty solid sign that I am. That said, it really did feel like home while I was there, and all the nuns seemed to like me very well. We also got to meet some Dominican novices with their novice master (they're the ones in the very front who look more like the strapping, young lads they are compared to the older fellows. The novice master is the dude on the far right). They got to come inside the cloister and join us for the rogation procession, and it was exciting because my mind defaults to a strict, nuns-only (except for me...) sense of the enclosure (even though there are exceptions that currently apply in that community on a pretty much daily basis), and here were some cute, celibate boys (ok, young men) and their novice master joining us for our rogation procession on a beautiful day. It was all very congenial, and a little adorable because you could tell it was their first time inside a women's monastery ;)
I'm working on my application now, and the two main bumps ahead in the paperwork are my autobiography and the report from my physical. Then of course I have to take care of my loans (either pay them off or find sponsors or get accepted for a loan fund or something) and my material possessions etc. It's a mixed bag as far as support goes because my dad and grandma support me (even though they're Protestants) but my mom is almost vehemently opposed. Her husband is supporting her and doesn't necessarily agree with my position, but is not violently against it, either. Despite this, though, my mom is still being very loving to me, everything considered. Most of the people I know who have offered any kind of opinion about this are in favor--even curiously so--with the exception of some Protestant friends who, perhaps implicitly, have insisted that I can't serve people or God as well as I could or should cooped up behind cloister walls for the rest of my life. Oh well.
I hope things are well for everyone. I'll be praying for you all. Feel free to leave requests if you'd like, even if that's not usually your thing <3
That said, I am indeed alive and still exist on the interwebs. Almost two weeks ago I got back from my aspirancy with the cloistered Dominican nuns of the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Farmington Hills, MI. It was basically a time where I got to live with them inside the enclosure and follow their schedule and do what they did, including participating in all of their communal prayers, Mass, chores, classes, and recreation time. It was pretty awesome. I don't know if many people would feel the same if they weren't called to this vocation, so I'm taking that as a pretty solid sign that I am. That said, it really did feel like home while I was there, and all the nuns seemed to like me very well. We also got to meet some Dominican novices with their novice master (they're the ones in the very front who look more like the strapping, young lads they are compared to the older fellows. The novice master is the dude on the far right). They got to come inside the cloister and join us for the rogation procession, and it was exciting because my mind defaults to a strict, nuns-only (except for me...) sense of the enclosure (even though there are exceptions that currently apply in that community on a pretty much daily basis), and here were some cute, celibate boys (ok, young men) and their novice master joining us for our rogation procession on a beautiful day. It was all very congenial, and a little adorable because you could tell it was their first time inside a women's monastery ;)
I'm working on my application now, and the two main bumps ahead in the paperwork are my autobiography and the report from my physical. Then of course I have to take care of my loans (either pay them off or find sponsors or get accepted for a loan fund or something) and my material possessions etc. It's a mixed bag as far as support goes because my dad and grandma support me (even though they're Protestants) but my mom is almost vehemently opposed. Her husband is supporting her and doesn't necessarily agree with my position, but is not violently against it, either. Despite this, though, my mom is still being very loving to me, everything considered. Most of the people I know who have offered any kind of opinion about this are in favor--even curiously so--with the exception of some Protestant friends who, perhaps implicitly, have insisted that I can't serve people or God as well as I could or should cooped up behind cloister walls for the rest of my life. Oh well.
I hope things are well for everyone. I'll be praying for you all. Feel free to leave requests if you'd like, even if that's not usually your thing <3