Our competition are open to UK readers only - sorry!
Please remember to email your responses to maryhoffman@maryhoffman.co.uk as well so that I can contact you easily if you win.
To win one of five copies of The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader, our January guest, please leave an answer to the following in the Comment section below:
"Tell us what aspects of the enclosed religious life, whether as an anchoress or as a nun in an enclosed order, either appeal to or appall you." (You don't have to be female to enter!)
Closing date is 7th February. Good luck!
This is a fascinating life choice. However, I could not contemplate cutting myself off from society like that - it would remove all forms of joy I hold dear (interactions with friends and family, the kindness of strangers, exploring the outdoors etc). It removes the ability to have new experiences in different environments, and to learn from mistakes - all things I cherish.
ReplyDeleteWhat an extraordinary life that would be. The thing I would love, if it were permitted, would be time to read. If I had paper and pen, of course I would write - bliss to be undistracted.
ReplyDeleteIt would be long before I contracted cabin fever, though.
I think I would love the structure of the monastic life, the timed world and the social structure! I am not sure I could cope without people, I am a social person, but the nice limited days do appeal, with no daily challenges past the basics. But the whole past living would put me off, I like my modern comforts, my heat and light, my 'clean' world.
ReplyDeleteI think it could be attractive to try at being a hermit or anchoress for a short while but not for long, ultimate escape holidays :-).
I cherish my solitude, the chances I have for "aloneness", to be aware of breath, life, spirit, soul. They offer space to be, which is where the attraction lies. But I think that glorious emotional and mental space would feel so constricted if my physical space was limited too. I'm fascinated by the idea of being a hermit but I'd end up craving space, in all its forms, to refill my living well.
ReplyDeleteThere is already a fair amount of routine and ritual in my daily life, as children are cared for, home and garden sorted and work done. However, living in Western Europe, these activities are completed day after day through out the ever changing seasons. Our curtains are thrown back each morning, unlike the ever present cloth covering the cell window, so that we can see and enjoy the seasonal changes of the new day. It would be very hard to give up the sights and sensations of the seasons.
ReplyDeleteI think the complete solitude would both attract and repel me. I've often thought how nice it would be to be free from all distractions to focus on various projects, or to read and learn and generally do things completely unfettered from outside intrusions. You would have such clear focus on your goals, I imagine you could find real peace in an environment like that.
ReplyDeleteBut at the same time, I think I might find that enclosed life stifling because there's so many places I want to go to, and so many things I want to see that just wouldn't be possible. Also, in a more down to earth way, I think I'd get claustrophobic by having to live in a tiny cell for the rest of my life. I like to touch things, and I'd miss the immediate sensory gratification from being able to go where I wanted and see and touch and smell whatever I wanted.
I think I would be attracted by the atmosphere of such a life, but would struggle with the practicalities of the environment.
Please remember to send me an email with your answers as above, if you haven't already done so, or you won't be eligible to win! Competition closes at midnight on 7th.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Mary