When I was a kid, I wanted to be many different things: an astronaut, a paleontologist, a belly dancer. I also wanted to be a nun.
Now, I had no idea what a nun was - I was not Catholic and in fact, had never seen a nun. Well, I did see the Flying Nun on tv, and she was pretty cool, but that wasn't the type of nun I was thinking about. The type of nun in my 7 year old imagination was more like a cross between the image of the tarot figure The Hermit (which I'd seen on my sister's Led Zepplin album cover) and something out of the movie The Sound of Music.
Now, I had no idea what a nun was - I was not Catholic and in fact, had never seen a nun. Well, I did see the Flying Nun on tv, and she was pretty cool, but that wasn't the type of nun I was thinking about. The type of nun in my 7 year old imagination was more like a cross between the image of the tarot figure The Hermit (which I'd seen on my sister's Led Zepplin album cover) and something out of the movie The Sound of Music.
St. Clare of Assisi
There were three lifestyle characteristics that I thought a nun would have:
1. Quiet, meditative solitude. Then, it meant I had more time interacting with my imaginary friends: Casper the Friendly Ghost and Buck Rogers (both were conveniently pocket-sized so I could carry them with me).
2. Communion with nature. I grew up in a pretty rural area, rich in Native American lore, and my spiritual leanings always had something to do with this bucolic setting. I talked to trees and plants, became "blood brothers" with them, and of course, thought my animal friends bestowed on me a special power. It was all a bit pagan before I knew what pagan was. But that's a different story....
3. Long black dresses. I loved black. Or more specifically, crayon black. It just colored - better. However, I remember getting in trouble one day when, in one of my coloring books, I colored the sky black. (Apparently the scenes in coloring books only happen in the daylight. Regardless, black was fabulous and I loved dressing up in it. My mom would take me to second hand stores and back in those days, there were some great finds. Black shoes, black hats, black gloves and purses: I begged my mom for them. I loved the weight and swishing sound of those old heavy clothes and wearing black made me feel like I had on some kind of protective cape of power. Today, those dress up clothes actually fit me, and I can't escape the idea that I've finally grown into the person, at least physically, that I hoped I would when I was a girl. In any event, I imagined the garb of a traditional nun would feel equally powerful and significant.
1. Quiet, meditative solitude. Then, it meant I had more time interacting with my imaginary friends: Casper the Friendly Ghost and Buck Rogers (both were conveniently pocket-sized so I could carry them with me).
2. Communion with nature. I grew up in a pretty rural area, rich in Native American lore, and my spiritual leanings always had something to do with this bucolic setting. I talked to trees and plants, became "blood brothers" with them, and of course, thought my animal friends bestowed on me a special power. It was all a bit pagan before I knew what pagan was. But that's a different story....
3. Long black dresses. I loved black. Or more specifically, crayon black. It just colored - better. However, I remember getting in trouble one day when, in one of my coloring books, I colored the sky black. (Apparently the scenes in coloring books only happen in the daylight. Regardless, black was fabulous and I loved dressing up in it. My mom would take me to second hand stores and back in those days, there were some great finds. Black shoes, black hats, black gloves and purses: I begged my mom for them. I loved the weight and swishing sound of those old heavy clothes and wearing black made me feel like I had on some kind of protective cape of power. Today, those dress up clothes actually fit me, and I can't escape the idea that I've finally grown into the person, at least physically, that I hoped I would when I was a girl. In any event, I imagined the garb of a traditional nun would feel equally powerful and significant.
Me, 1976?
Eventually, as I got older, I realized that most nuns had "modernized" - they no longer lived in forested nunneries secluded from the real world (the first time I saw a nun in the grocery store was the abrupt end to the last bit of my fantasy). Anyway, my own tendency to buck authority, would have made me a really bad nun.
Yet, I realized today, that my childhood version of this ideal, yet unrealistic, state is still very real to me. I still crave meditation, solitude, and nature. Every year when I take my MIS (multiple intelligence survey) with my students, I score high as a "Naturalist". This does explain my years as a 6th grade camp counselor, the Kamp Snoopy employment at Knott's Berry Farm, and the brief consideration to become a Forest Ranger in college...
Perhaps we are born with our purpose already encoded in our bodies and imaginations, and our journey in life is only a round-about distraction until we decide to finally go back home. Or in my case, a return to the nunnery.
Yet, I realized today, that my childhood version of this ideal, yet unrealistic, state is still very real to me. I still crave meditation, solitude, and nature. Every year when I take my MIS (multiple intelligence survey) with my students, I score high as a "Naturalist". This does explain my years as a 6th grade camp counselor, the Kamp Snoopy employment at Knott's Berry Farm, and the brief consideration to become a Forest Ranger in college...
Perhaps we are born with our purpose already encoded in our bodies and imaginations, and our journey in life is only a round-about distraction until we decide to finally go back home. Or in my case, a return to the nunnery.
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