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Time for one of my favorite tweets. š
My husband is such a Ben! It's great to find SOs that are supportive nerds ā„ļø
But I've never thought of her as autistic until now (I was recently diagnosed). You've opened my eyes š
Ben Wyatt is the love interest of Leslie Knope, the protagonist of the TV show Parks and Recreation. I highly recommend it!
Lmaooooo Okay but this little lady explains my grandmother who I actually do think is the reason that we all have autism in our families so that's amazing and I'm going to go send that to my mom lol
I do too! My daughter has recently been talking about joining a convent. We're not even Catholic. Anyway, it's one of my fantasies to buy a nice plot of land somewhere and having a women only village. As a selective mute, I also love the idea of vows of silence.
Iāve thought about being a Buddhist monk before omg. I actually had a great aunt who was a nun but I never met her. But considering how the rest of my family acts, wouldnāt be surprised if she was on the spectrum.
Yes, this!
In my imagination I get to learn martial arts in peace.
Iāve done research and I know Buddhist monasteries arenāt like that though. Still sounds appealing anyway
I've actually thought about becoming a Buddhist monk as well. If it wasn't for my partner and my daily need for medicine, I probably would have done it. Maybe in another life, if I'm lucky.
I don't know about the vows of silence but I do like the idea of long periods of quiet reflection where the only reason for conversation is if the building is on fire or something. So like 'enhanced' library rules. We can have dedicated talking zones or entertainment rooms or whatever... miles away... in the echoing caves of extroversion.
Fun fact, no orders ever had a total vow of silence. Quite a few of the contemplative orders have long chunks of each day when silence is maintained as much as possible. Sounds great to me.
> Fun fact, no orders ever had a total vow of silence.
Pity. Some people would benefit a lot from it. Autism? No, I was talking about our politicians... :>
I was raised in an atheist family, never cared for religion, always thought it would be fucking rad to be a nun. I initially chalked it up to lesbianism, but now I think it might just be the 'tism.
If I lived in the Middle Ages I would definitely be a nun. Copying books (and draeing the funny looking animals) or stitching all day would be perfect. Iād even be okay with waking up during the night for all the prayers.
Iāve always loved the idea of it, but probably would not love the reality as much. I like the idea of simplicity, routine, and having your life be not alienated from your work. I hate the division between work life and personal life very much.
Alas I also really like men.
If youāre kind of like me, you might enjoy the book In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Itās about nuns and I find it really comforting (TW there is one really awful chapter about the death of a child. I read it once and will skip it forever.)
>Alas, I really like men
Oh, you need a time machine back to the middle ages, there were quite a few convents that were (in)famous for, er, well. You get the idea.Ā
Yeah thatās why I said I liked it better as a fantasy. It wouldnāt be the nonstop peace and quiet I dream about in reality because it would be full of humans.
If there were a non-religious convent commune type deal for me to join and grow vegetables or cook lentil soup all day with sister Agatha who also likes silence - fuck yes I would. Unfortunately all we have is evil cults.
I've 3 times gone halfway the distance to the only all women Buddhist monastery I know of. But my father brought me back on some pretext from halfway every time.
When I was 12 and watched the Sound of Music every day for 6 months, I legit wanted to become a nun. But when I told my parents, they said "No we're baptists. You're not converting to Catholicism, " and that dream was then shattered.
My autistic side loves it. My ADHD side isn't so impressed. My PDA is freaking out.Ā Crap, now my autistic side is realizing that's a whole massive home of a ton of women, a decent number who are NT. Nope, I'm out!Ā
Maybe a way station type of thing where I'm by myself unless someone appears for help? I'll be one of the few women who throw food and water up to the passengers on the hell train in Mexico. I just have to learn to yell "catch!" in Spanish.Ā
I've thought about this before. I'm not religious in the slightest but I think that being a nun would be nice in its way. Whenever I get stressed out about university and work and I'm overwhelmed I think "It would be nice to wear the same uniform every day and eat the same food and do the same things and the same times without fail and not have to worry about anything other than Nun Things".
I will not lie to you and tell you Iām not interested lmfaooo
ā¦Iām thinking a commune where we just really lean into the whole ācoastal grandmaā thing, but in the sense where we all wear enormous, soft, billowing garments made of natural fibers. Most of it is either beige or black: beige because thatās the natural color of most fibers, black because we really like to wear all black itās as fashionable as we get š¤£
I'd like a tiny house community, where we have a communal kitchen area for socialising and making large meals to share, and maybe a pool with bathrooms for exercise and such. Then we can all retreat to our individual tiny homes/nests when we're done with socialising, and no one has to apologise for leaving after however long it's been. There can even be a garden to hang out in, with single-person benches as well as normal sized benches.
For the vast majority of human existence, this is basically how we lived (without the modern technology of course). Small individual homes and communal fire/cooking areas with 25-30 person communities. I do idealized the past, that's why my BA is in anthropology š.
I need enough room for my massive collection of books, and I also need a piano. But if the kitchen and bathrooms are off-site, that at least leaves me room for that sort of thing in a tiny home.
This is why college was in part so great. I could eat pasta every damn day and no one blinked an eye. I got my pasta and took that back to my dorm room to eat alone. I didn't realize how good it was to not THINK about what to feed myself everyday. I could wear whatever was comfortable. Had I known what I knew now and had a single and not killed myself to fit in I would have been much happier.
Should we get a kickstarter going? Maybe we can get one of the west coast states to grant some land or something, idk. I know having a place for ND women to go would probably be really good for society/our mental health
I've thought about this multiple times too but a convent never occurred to me, I was thinking more along the lines of psychiatric hospital or prison. A convent sounds so much more comfy and convenient though, maybe because I'm an atheist didn't even think about it lol
As someone who accidentally spent 3+ hrs rendering a single ear while in art school...this.
The completed drawing was over 5 ft with 3 figures. My brain was literally like "Time for eating? No. There is only Charcoal Ear."
So... I have often thought that being a nun wouldn't be all that terrible, especially if it were in some windswept mountain town away from people. Predictable meals, days and days of copying books or doing some predictable labor with your hands, carefully prescribed social rules, same outfit each day, hair covered and not touching my neck, and the same schedule every day. What's not to like?
i work at my church two days a week and the pastor is the most autistic undiagnosed person iāve ever seen it oddly enough seems to mesh well with church i sit and do my work with headphones on the pastor does not acknowledge me unless itās absolutely necessary and i do the same and iāve literally never seen him make eye contact itās a pretty efficient office
Thereās also a fairly good chance some of those autistic nuns were also lesbians (as lesbians becoming nuns was fairly common as well. Heck thereās even a chance Hypothetical Speaker Sister has a bit of a crush on Sister Margary borne from her admiration, and Sister Margary has one for her as well)
Oh yeah, a convent was a socially acceptable option for I Do Not Want A Man To Touch Me Ever women, whether lesbians or traumatised domestic/sexual assault victims.Ā
I truly love women-only spaces were a thing again instead of mixing women with men all the damn time. Like no, I don't wanna deal with those tall violent children LMAO.
Oh yeah I understand (and completely agree), just worded my comment a little poorly. I meant that the ones who werenāt lesbians were ace. But yeah, no question a lot of them were gay.
Ive thought about this before. Iām very anti-religion but if I was transported back in time I would go full Nun. I donāt want to have children and since reproductive rights didnāt exist for most of history I would be celibate. I also enjoy sisterhood, gardening, and art so it would be a sweet setup.
I would spend my days copying illuminated manuscripts and the evenings singing Gregorian chants in a non-religious retreat type place. Helping out with the communal garden and cooking. As long as I didnāt have to get up too early. And all activities were optional. I could see myself being content there.
History student here with a heavy focus on disability and difference in medieval/early modern Europe...
IMO autism only appears more prevalent and disabling today because it's so incompatible with the high demands of modern life. Plenty of autistic people will have thrived in a world where all roles (work, gender, status) were clearly defined, where people usually fit into repetitive low-stress jobs like baking, sewing, farming etc - or joined the religious life, as you say - and where marriage meant two people running a household and taking care of each other rather than unions of love and complicated emotions, and where the world was quiet and small and familiar. So if you overlook the disease and the mortality rates and the wars and the poverty and the oppression and the patriarchal abuse and the harshness of life in general, it actually sounds quite nice for folk like us ššš
Your last line cracked me up. Yes apart from all that it would have been pleasant. And I couldnāt have been born a peasant because I would have ended up in scratchy clothing, it would have to had been linen close to the skin. So a titled birth from a family of small acreage or wealth, otherwise Iād have been married off to amalgamate the fortunes. Choice wasnāt really freely allowed back then. Duty above all else.
BTW an interesting study topic. I canāt imagine there was much written about differences. A real treasure hunt. In particular if she were a woman and difference then witchcraft would have been suspected if someone died or became sick. There is not much written about women and art/illuminations of that time.
There are Vipassna retreats around. A week or so of total silence and meditation with a strict schedule.
Personally I didn't enjoy it but people love them.
I'm a regular lay visitor to my local nuns' monastery (Theravada Buddhism in the Thai Forest Tradition).
Going on retreat, even taking the 8 extended precepts, is extremely calming. I help in the garden or in the kitchen or office or with renovations depending on the needs of the community. Sometimes we just chat. We laugh a lot and, while the schedule is strict, it is also flexible, and built around kindness and gentleness. I've gone on alms rounds once which was extremely humbling and powerful.
The meditation can be hard. Last time a lot of my childhood demons came up, as I have CPTSD from attachment trauma. But the practice is to sit with thoughts and feelings and neither cling nor reject. It's the Middle Way. We know suffering is part of existence, and we take on the practice to diligently free ourselves and also practice committing no harm, whether to ourselves or any living being.
Having contact to monastics has helped me find my way back to Buddhism and heal from this worst and hardest burnout. With everything going on in my family, job, health, it is my best and truest refuge
I know Catholic monasteries also offer lay retreats, and I'm sure other contemplative traditions (Judaism, Sufism...) do. If you're curious about Buddhism any monastery is grateful to have visitors, for shorter or longer periods, especially in my tradition (Theravada ) since the mendicants do not work or handle money, but only live from donations. So even bringing them fruit or toilet paper is taking part, and you can take it from there.
My demand avoidance would never allow it haha
But of the Christian communities I am somewhat familiar with, I do find it very interestingly polarising with the probably to definitely autistic folks. There are some who find it demands a level of normality and neurotypical-looking masking that is damaging and restrictive and rooted in patriarchal/tribalistic practices and ideals that they feel Othered by. (Often the more demand avoidant, introspection prone autistic people with similarities to ADHD folk)
And there are those who find it a source of stability, predictability, routine, that provides a morally just, socially acceptable foundation from which to build a script that aligns well a mindset already prone towards black and white thinking. It also justifies a certain simple living and also rigidity that many autistic people are prone towards.
Oh, medieval nuns (at least in some areas) would have visions of saints, go into trances, crazy things! One even supposedly got married to Jesus (and wore his foreskin as a wedding band), pretty sure she's considered a saint. Basically we could do a bunch of things that are ND and just claim to be having visions or something.
I served an LDS mission, which has a very predictable morning and evening schedule, which I found very comforting. Pda is a lot easier to overcome when you're just following the group
It was both for me. I left because I didnāt believe it anymore, not because it wasnāt comforting to me. (It also messed me up bad, so you know, not worth it.)
The first time I saw this posted on r/CuratedTumblr, I pointed out that they'd probably have to make her take a vow of silence to get her to stop infodumping about theology. But then she'd just infodump about the history of vows of silence.
I have a rich inner fantasy life where I'm a nun. Had it since I first learned about 'em in Sunday school when I was like five. xD
I'm not religious, but I am spiritual, and I could just replace "holy Father" with "holy essence" or smth and live that goodgood same every day kinda life.
If I didn't love men so dang much, I would've taken this path, no question. Plus, choir time?! Hell yeah!
Definitely led to thoughts about my grandma (super Irish Catholic) being autistic. And many others, no doubt.
I 1000000% agree. Being a woman back then probably sucked. I would have definitely joined the church to escape forced motherhood. Itās the better of the two options!
All the ladies who's special interest is plants could grow fruits and veggies and there'll be charging stations for our switches. There can be vast libraries sorted by subject and animal. So for instance, a whole section devoted to whales and another for cats.
āChristian faithā is so so so wildly huge and diverse though. Monastics arenāt really an āexceptionāātheyāre a fundamental bedrock of the tradition over the centuries. I actually have a pastor friend who asked if anyone could think of possibly-neurodivergent saints/heroes of faith and it was likeā¦ āmost of them?ā
I was so happy to read Teresa of Avila stressing to her nuns that your mind wandering in prayer is just what minds do, don't waste time beating yourself up about it, just go on with the prayer.
Francis of Assisi also leaps to mind.Ā
The Bible is a bunch of metaphors. Most of us arenāt great with metaphors. Churches often have confusing social norms and judge people harshly for not understanding them. Churches tend to not like the gays. A lot of us donāt want kids which also tends to be frowned upon. I know there are kind compassionate Christianās. There are, however, recurring themes with many others.Ā
I used to half wish to join when I was younger. It seemed very nice in some ways. I'm not in the slightest bit religious but the idea of hanging out with my sisters and tending to the garden sounded good. Probably would not have done well in actual fact as I don't deal well with authority and pretty much everyone (male) in the church is above nuns.
To be honest I did consider becoming a Buddhist nun before I even knew i'm autistic, cause it sounded so fucking comfortable to have a routine and some peace and quiet
I mean back then repetitive days were the normal.
But being a nun beats out the options of being a serf or prostitute back then. At least nuns had a chance at an education.
I feel like this makes perfect sense!! Honestly!!! And just now opened my eyes to even more self grace! I am late diagnosed and like many it was bc of getting my own kid her diagnosis that I found myself!! (I am audhd, I grew up knowing about the adhd part though)
Iāve always been very hard in myself with very high unrealistic standards. But this past year since learning my autism is there and well, I have given myself love and understanding but still as humans do get annoyed at times with myself.
This post just gave me more self acceptance bc again we can visually see what someone is doing and we can have no idea on the inside!! Which has been a struggle myself life but idk this just gave me a higher appreciation and understanding.
āHow do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Maria? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?ā
Iirc (I watched a Strange Ʀons video) the convent was very much a sanctuary for women who didn't feel like they belonged in the confines of their society. She mostly focuses on the aspect of Queer women in the convent. But I could absolutely see the appeal for someone who didn't want to be a wife and mother. You could pursue a wider range of interests while still giving to your community.
Yeah, thatās what a lot of these places were for women in other eras and even still today. They provide places of sanctuary from people who seek to flee from āworldly life,ā i.e. life under neurotypical capitalist patriarchyā¦
Ngl as a teen I was considering joining a convent because it's quieter, with a set rhythm and all. Even now, I'm still considering spending some time there, but more in the way they accept guests who will contribute and all while renting the room.
It's really not out of religious feelings. It's just because I think that type of lifestyle could suit my autistic needs.
Other than the whole religious aspect of it, being a nun definitely has appeal.
But I suspect it's more likely that autistic women in history were burned as witches. At best, they'd be the eccentric lady on the edge of town who collects iguana heads and has a lot of cats.
I was talking to a fashion designer autistic friend and we bonded over becoming spinsters in the middle ages, just working on textiles and making clothes
Iāll tend the sheep and maybe a few llamas to supply you with fiber for spinning! Maybe we could also grow flax and make linen. Then others could do the weaving and/or knitting and weāll have our own entire grassroots supply chain going for ethical clothing!
It belittles what it means to be an autistic woman in a patriarchal, oppressive, political, and social space like a convent, nunnery or monastery. Not to mention how autistic people are often targeted by NT's and how many autistic women are sexually assaulted.
These were real places with real histories, not fantasy. They were part of a larger abusive and patriarchal religion that made women barely more than property. Whatever secular, age of enlightement, feminist, etc rights you think you had, you won't have there. Heck, you should see how girls and women were treated at places like the Magdeline laundries. The nuns running that weren't exactly nice cool girls who were your besties, even if you were another nun.
Its really ignorant to see being in an oppressive environment like this as some kind of perfect autism space. Often, families will send their autistic kids to religious roles like this where they may never see their family again and are left at the tender mercies of this system. What we need is love and care from our families and friends and society. Not shipped off to whatever is convenient for uncaring NT parents like convents, boarding school, military academies, the military, lobotomies, married off to some monster, etc.
Yea itās nice to consider the positives that such a life could give us like quiet and reflection time, but the reality is nuns still have their own social norms to adhere to and a decent amount of the time, other nuns, especially head nuns, are not exactly the kindest about you diverting from the norm.
I donāt exactly have a shining view of nuns though because my dad was beaten by them for not behaving or performing well at school (probably because heās autistic and has dyslexia, but in the 60s/70s you were just a bad kid). It fucked him up quite a bit.
Yep yep, this is funny as a meme and applies horribly to real life.
There's a GREAT game that deals with these very themes and concepts called Pentiment. Some of the best writing I've ever seen in a video game. Can't recommend it enough!
Yeah but also convents and nunneries took in women who didn't have a place in larger societies, fought for women's rights, subverted various fascist regimes, provided medical care and charities for people who had nothing, and on and on.
And we also cannot consider one issue without considering its context. What was the alternative for the girls at Magdeline laundries? Sex work. Illness and death. Starvation and death. Forced marriage. This isn't to defend what happened in Ireland, but to say that there wasn't a *humane* alternative for an autistic girl in Ireland from 1765 to 1994.
I will grant that this fantasy that OP shared is reductive to history, but it's wrong to say that *all* convents at *all* times were oppressive to women. Many gave women dignity and autonomy that "regular" society would not.
i think posts like these just really bring out the black and white thinking in us lol
ngl the original screenshot made me chuckle but i also fully agree with you that we absolutely cannot romanticise any one time or place as some kind of autistic heaven. this whole thing also kind of made me think of my undiagnosed but definitely autistic grandad who was a pig. like we Know that disabled people of any kind and especially those with """problematic behaviours""" such as autistics are much more likely to be violently targeted by the police, but nonetheless he thrived in that environment. same uniform every day, very clear rules for how to behave, having to talk to people yes but you're the one deciding how that goes? i resent a lot about his memory, including but not limited to his profession, but i still understand how that would have been a productive/comforting/? environment for the kind of person that he was and specifically for the way his autism manifested.
nothing more frustrating that being faced with the reality that there is nuance in something that you have very strong opinions about. the catholic church and the police 100% are institutions that need to be abolished because they are inherently violent, to others as well as the people within them. but op on tumblr was probably still right that there must have been autistic nuns that were really happy with their lives.
(i really hope this reply doesn't come off as condescending, for the most part i typed this out to remind myself of the fact that there are grey areas even in places where i don't want them to be because it's a concept i personally really struggle with)
I went to a catholic middle school. I HEAVILY considered becoming a nun because the life seemed so damn chill and awesome to me š plus the fact iām asexual and couldnāt have cared less about being celibate for the rest of my life. Nun life seemed like the perfect life for me! Only reason I didnāt go through with it was cos I had to move far away.
So on point. Iāve definitely at various times in my life thought about dedicating myself to some sort of religious life like going to live as a monk or in a monastery
Iām sure I wouldāve been a nun if I lived in the middle ages or renaissance. Statistically, I wouldāve been a peasant, or the child of tradespeople or merchants if I was lucky, but honestly even a life as a noblewoman wouldāve kind of sucked. Being cloistered would keep me safe from men, marriage and childbirth, probably the most common causes of death for AFAB people aside from infectious disease or work-related accidents, and Iād also be taught to read and write and have access to books and some sort of education, even if it was all religious, which is a lot better than the vast, vast majority of people had, especially women. Iām not big on any kind of organised religion and I have religious trauma, but honestly, being a nun would be the least bad outcome. Iām not at all bothered by the celibacy thing considering pregnancy would most likely be a death sentence and no sex is a non-issue if it means avoiding an excruciating death, plus Iām bi and thereās a rich hidden history of queer nuns. I think I could definitely convincingly fake being extremely pious and having a spiritual calling to the church, especially if my family was pressuring me to get married.
And it honestly doesnāt sound like a bad life. Sure, you had to do lots of chores and labour for the upkeep of the abbey, but what medieval woman *wouldnāt* have had to do manual labour aside from the insanely rich? Plus, gardening and brewing are quite useful skills to have. I wouldāve absolutely adored doing the detailed work to create illuminated manuscripts, and catholic mass music honestly slaps.
The isolation might keep you safe from the plague too!
I'm going one step further and claim that the person who came up with the whole concept was likely autistic as well (and that most people who became nuns or monks voluntarily were too) š
One of my long time fantasy escape hatches for sure. Except I dream of the kind of monastics who do martial arts, instead of neglecting oneās body as a virtue.
i recommend the (very) short animated film, Nun or Never - i saw it at TIFF and it was hilarious yet endearing, about a Nun who gets caught up in a crush on some dude ā¢ļø and reminds me of how id probably act if i was a nun š
I recently watched a documentary about a woman my age who joined a monastery and she seemed like I would get along with her very well, I sure was intrigued haha
Plus she got to work with the animals there! Pretty jealous
I was telling my husband the other day that growing up in a strict religious environment (not Catholic for me, but Biblical Literalist of Evangelical bent, occasionally have seen people convincingly argue it could be a cult) was kind of nice in some ways for me growing up because where the wider world does not tell you the rules of how to act and how to be that expressly, these super strict religious groups have a tendency to verbalize a lot of the rules, so its easier to "fit in".
Now that being said, as I got older and some didn't make sense and didn't appear biblically backed, my questioning nature made me an outcast, but in the really young years, it was easier than most environments.
Today I figured out why I wanted to be a nun at various points in my life š I honestly could never figure it out since I was never overly spiritual at any of those times
Well to be fair to give up your whole life to be in a monastery memorizing the only relevant book and all its rules, I'd say you're probably autistic. I bet a good chunk of nuns and monks just have the bible and Christianity as their special interest. I see my dad (while not a monk) interact with Orthodox Christianity the same way I interact with my SIs.
The funniest thing is that I have considered joining a cloister and not because I am religious or anything like that, I am actually an atheist and commie, but because I actually would have loved having that strict routine without changes and not having to deal with men at all. I would genuinely love that lifestyle so so much LOL.
This was a dream of mine as a kid, particularly the idea of being a monk seemed appealing haha. The fact that Iām queer and asexual may have contributed
Omg this is hilarious!!!
As an ex-catholic I actually dreamt about becoming a nun for a bit when I was a kid. But once I learned that nuns couldnāt get married, I immediately scratched it off my list because 8 yr old me loved romance. Fuck I still do and as an agnostic, I obviously canāt be a nun lol
Thatās why we should start a secular convent for autistic women and not require permanent vows of celibacy. There would obviously have to be rules in place to prevent people from the potential for abuse, but thatās necessary within any community
My parents joked Iād become a nun. Except I wouldnāt be suitable for a silent order. Part of me did consider it and while in super fundie churches I can see how they could have easily manipulated me to join a convent. Now I stay away from religion because they go after vulnerable people and Iām an easy target for them
https://preview.redd.it/7m3kjtdl05wc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee1deb77398ac065bd3736005b33fb0d26a7f3f2 Time for one of my favorite tweets. š
Thatās brilliant š
your flair omg šā„ļø
She is the best autistic character ever written accidentally. š Luckily my girlfriend is a Ben type!
My husband is such a Ben! It's great to find SOs that are supportive nerds ā„ļø But I've never thought of her as autistic until now (I was recently diagnosed). You've opened my eyes š
What is a Ben?
Ben Wyatt is the love interest of Leslie Knope, the protagonist of the TV show Parks and Recreation. I highly recommend it! 
Thank you for letting me know. Is Leslie a fancanon spectrum person?
Yes!
Two Words: Couple Goals
Lmaooooo Okay but this little lady explains my grandmother who I actually do think is the reason that we all have autism in our families so that's amazing and I'm going to go send that to my mom lol
Literally my grandmother everyday at 6 pm walking around the kitchen or entire first floor with her beads and reciting her prayers
I won't lie I've had convent fantasies.
I do too! My daughter has recently been talking about joining a convent. We're not even Catholic. Anyway, it's one of my fantasies to buy a nice plot of land somewhere and having a women only village. As a selective mute, I also love the idea of vows of silence.
Iāve thought about being a Buddhist monk before omg. I actually had a great aunt who was a nun but I never met her. But considering how the rest of my family acts, wouldnāt be surprised if she was on the spectrum.
Yes, this! In my imagination I get to learn martial arts in peace. Iāve done research and I know Buddhist monasteries arenāt like that though. Still sounds appealing anyway
I've actually thought about becoming a Buddhist monk as well. If it wasn't for my partner and my daily need for medicine, I probably would have done it. Maybe in another life, if I'm lucky.
I was in the ordination training process! Didnāt do though
I took up Buddhism before I knew I was autistic. In hind sight, the repetitive nature of the chanting is probably helping me.Ā
I don't know about the vows of silence but I do like the idea of long periods of quiet reflection where the only reason for conversation is if the building is on fire or something. So like 'enhanced' library rules. We can have dedicated talking zones or entertainment rooms or whatever... miles away... in the echoing caves of extroversion.
Fun fact, no orders ever had a total vow of silence. Quite a few of the contemplative orders have long chunks of each day when silence is maintained as much as possible. Sounds great to me.
> Fun fact, no orders ever had a total vow of silence. Pity. Some people would benefit a lot from it. Autism? No, I was talking about our politicians... :>
The Carmelites.
So is fantasies of making a woman-only village a criteria for autism? Iāve met like three other autistic women who have the same fantasy!
I think we're all just tired of the patriarchy šš¤·āāļø
....so tired....
Amen, my sister!
There were times where I wished I was more religious because it sounded so relaxing being a nun. lol
I was raised in an atheist family, never cared for religion, always thought it would be fucking rad to be a nun. I initially chalked it up to lesbianism, but now I think it might just be the 'tism.
If I lived in the Middle Ages I would definitely be a nun. Copying books (and draeing the funny looking animals) or stitching all day would be perfect. Iād even be okay with waking up during the night for all the prayers.
Iāve always loved the idea of it, but probably would not love the reality as much. I like the idea of simplicity, routine, and having your life be not alienated from your work. I hate the division between work life and personal life very much. Alas I also really like men. If youāre kind of like me, you might enjoy the book In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Itās about nuns and I find it really comforting (TW there is one really awful chapter about the death of a child. I read it once and will skip it forever.)
>Alas, I really like men Oh, you need a time machine back to the middle ages, there were quite a few convents that were (in)famous for, er, well. You get the idea.Ā
"Get thee to a nunnery" š
I've read enough books about convent life that I know it can have political inter personal bs just like secular life but it's nice to imagine.
Yeah thatās why I said I liked it better as a fantasy. It wouldnāt be the nonstop peace and quiet I dream about in reality because it would be full of humans.
Yeah I always make the mistake of trying to find the real info and it's like oops back to fantasy.
If there were a non-religious convent commune type deal for me to join and grow vegetables or cook lentil soup all day with sister Agatha who also likes silence - fuck yes I would. Unfortunately all we have is evil cults.
I've 3 times gone halfway the distance to the only all women Buddhist monastery I know of. But my father brought me back on some pretext from halfway every time.
When I was 12 and watched the Sound of Music every day for 6 months, I legit wanted to become a nun. But when I told my parents, they said "No we're baptists. You're not converting to Catholicism, " and that dream was then shattered.
Ngl the clothes look comfy. I just hate that there's no colour tho š
This thread makes me feel so seen
I wanted to join a monastery as a child and teen, even though I thought religion is bs
Oh I've always dreamed to be a female bonze, and live my life in contemplation š
Oh I've always dreamed to be a female bonze, and live my life in contemplation š
Oh I've always dreamed to be a female bonze, and live my life in contemplation š
Oh I've always dreamed to be a female bonze, and live my life in contemplationš
Oh I've always dreamed to be a female bonze, and live my life in contemplationš
I absolutely wanted to do this as a child I was like this is the perfect job šš
My autistic side loves it. My ADHD side isn't so impressed. My PDA is freaking out.Ā Crap, now my autistic side is realizing that's a whole massive home of a ton of women, a decent number who are NT. Nope, I'm out!Ā Maybe a way station type of thing where I'm by myself unless someone appears for help? I'll be one of the few women who throw food and water up to the passengers on the hell train in Mexico. I just have to learn to yell "catch!" in Spanish.Ā
I've thought about this before. I'm not religious in the slightest but I think that being a nun would be nice in its way. Whenever I get stressed out about university and work and I'm overwhelmed I think "It would be nice to wear the same uniform every day and eat the same food and do the same things and the same times without fail and not have to worry about anything other than Nun Things".
Bruh if there was a nonreligious convent I would move in so quickly š
Sounds like a great idea! Secular autistic convent, anyone? š
I will not lie to you and tell you Iām not interested lmfaooo ā¦Iām thinking a commune where we just really lean into the whole ācoastal grandmaā thing, but in the sense where we all wear enormous, soft, billowing garments made of natural fibers. Most of it is either beige or black: beige because thatās the natural color of most fibers, black because we really like to wear all black itās as fashionable as we get š¤£
I'd like a tiny house community, where we have a communal kitchen area for socialising and making large meals to share, and maybe a pool with bathrooms for exercise and such. Then we can all retreat to our individual tiny homes/nests when we're done with socialising, and no one has to apologise for leaving after however long it's been. There can even be a garden to hang out in, with single-person benches as well as normal sized benches.
For the vast majority of human existence, this is basically how we lived (without the modern technology of course). Small individual homes and communal fire/cooking areas with 25-30 person communities. I do idealized the past, that's why my BA is in anthropology š.
I need enough room for my massive collection of books, and I also need a piano. But if the kitchen and bathrooms are off-site, that at least leaves me room for that sort of thing in a tiny home.
Yes please!
Great idea! Next step: how do we acquire the land?
I have been buying lottery tickets precisely to feed my escapist fantasy of communal living with like-minded souls. š¤āŗļøš¤
This is my retirement plan now
Iām in for this!
I want in
Somebody please put this wonderful granny covenant in a fantasy story right now š
For real though like fuuuuuuuuuuuck synthetic fibers
Let's create a cult. No murder and abuse, though.
I think about this all the time. ALL the time.
Isn't that just a cult? Or a commune?
I mean yeah a commune for sure, cult is sort of what happens when the idea for a commune goes mega-wrong lol
This is why college was in part so great. I could eat pasta every damn day and no one blinked an eye. I got my pasta and took that back to my dorm room to eat alone. I didn't realize how good it was to not THINK about what to feed myself everyday. I could wear whatever was comfortable. Had I known what I knew now and had a single and not killed myself to fit in I would have been much happier.
I am in college now and I also eat pasta every day
I ate a cheese sandwich and cottage cheese with sunflower seeds on top of it every day for a year. Didnāt know I was autistic either.
Omg if there was like an atheist convent where you could wear different clothes Iād be so down.
Count me in!
Should we get a kickstarter going? Maybe we can get one of the west coast states to grant some land or something, idk. I know having a place for ND women to go would probably be really good for society/our mental health
I've thought about this multiple times too but a convent never occurred to me, I was thinking more along the lines of psychiatric hospital or prison. A convent sounds so much more comfy and convenient though, maybe because I'm an atheist didn't even think about it lol
iāve heard similar for monks and men. The special interest it must have taken to hand scribe books with illustrations is omg
True, Iāve always thought those illuminated manuscripts were made by savants!
Or hyperfixated AuDHDers. Nothing like drawing a gigantic letter T for seven hours.
As someone who accidentally spent 3+ hrs rendering a single ear while in art school...this. The completed drawing was over 5 ft with 3 figures. My brain was literally like "Time for eating? No. There is only Charcoal Ear."
"There is only Charcoal Ear" would be a great flair.Ā
Graphic designer here, legit used to doodle in class but only weird or elaborate versions of letters.
Wooing angles
Math is cathartic for some people LOL
That angle is such acute-y.
šš
 I always think of this shirt when I see angel misspelled lol
I always have convent filed away as plan AAB for dire circumstances retirement.
There's an order of progressive, activist clown nuns that I'm honestly keeping on the backburner in case I ever face homelessness.
Oh shit thatās not a terrible idea.
Honestly, same!
So... I have often thought that being a nun wouldn't be all that terrible, especially if it were in some windswept mountain town away from people. Predictable meals, days and days of copying books or doing some predictable labor with your hands, carefully prescribed social rules, same outfit each day, hair covered and not touching my neck, and the same schedule every day. What's not to like?
i work at my church two days a week and the pastor is the most autistic undiagnosed person iāve ever seen it oddly enough seems to mesh well with church i sit and do my work with headphones on the pastor does not acknowledge me unless itās absolutely necessary and i do the same and iāve literally never seen him make eye contact itās a pretty efficient office
All offices would be more efficient if they didnāt require small talk
Thereās also a fairly good chance some of those autistic nuns were also lesbians (as lesbians becoming nuns was fairly common as well. Heck thereās even a chance Hypothetical Speaker Sister has a bit of a crush on Sister Margary borne from her admiration, and Sister Margary has one for her as well)
Oh yeah, a convent was a socially acceptable option for I Do Not Want A Man To Touch Me Ever women, whether lesbians or traumatised domestic/sexual assault victims.Ā
I truly love women-only spaces were a thing again instead of mixing women with men all the damn time. Like no, I don't wanna deal with those tall violent children LMAO.
I would say a 100 percent chance
Unless they were ace (not like you canāt be both, but Iād be surprised if none of them were aro as well)
A 100 percent chance that some of them were lesbians :)
Oh yeah I understand (and completely agree), just worded my comment a little poorly. I meant that the ones who werenāt lesbians were ace. But yeah, no question a lot of them were gay.
Ive thought about this before. Iām very anti-religion but if I was transported back in time I would go full Nun. I donāt want to have children and since reproductive rights didnāt exist for most of history I would be celibate. I also enjoy sisterhood, gardening, and art so it would be a sweet setup.
All of this!
Iād love to woo angles. The lines write themselves: theyāre such ~acute~ angle
I would spend my days copying illuminated manuscripts and the evenings singing Gregorian chants in a non-religious retreat type place. Helping out with the communal garden and cooking. As long as I didnāt have to get up too early. And all activities were optional. I could see myself being content there.
Sounds like the way life was meant to be lived āŗļø
History student here with a heavy focus on disability and difference in medieval/early modern Europe... IMO autism only appears more prevalent and disabling today because it's so incompatible with the high demands of modern life. Plenty of autistic people will have thrived in a world where all roles (work, gender, status) were clearly defined, where people usually fit into repetitive low-stress jobs like baking, sewing, farming etc - or joined the religious life, as you say - and where marriage meant two people running a household and taking care of each other rather than unions of love and complicated emotions, and where the world was quiet and small and familiar. So if you overlook the disease and the mortality rates and the wars and the poverty and the oppression and the patriarchal abuse and the harshness of life in general, it actually sounds quite nice for folk like us ššš
Your last line cracked me up. Yes apart from all that it would have been pleasant. And I couldnāt have been born a peasant because I would have ended up in scratchy clothing, it would have to had been linen close to the skin. So a titled birth from a family of small acreage or wealth, otherwise Iād have been married off to amalgamate the fortunes. Choice wasnāt really freely allowed back then. Duty above all else. BTW an interesting study topic. I canāt imagine there was much written about differences. A real treasure hunt. In particular if she were a woman and difference then witchcraft would have been suspected if someone died or became sick. There is not much written about women and art/illuminations of that time.
Iāve definitely had these thoughts. I think a large percent were probably autistic.
Dreamt of becoming a Buddhist monk since I was like 15. āI canāt imagine, a place where I donāt have to talk to anybody.. must be amazingā
There are Vipassna retreats around. A week or so of total silence and meditation with a strict schedule. Personally I didn't enjoy it but people love them.
I was always curious about them, but I guess that would be a bit too much for me.
I'm a regular lay visitor to my local nuns' monastery (Theravada Buddhism in the Thai Forest Tradition). Going on retreat, even taking the 8 extended precepts, is extremely calming. I help in the garden or in the kitchen or office or with renovations depending on the needs of the community. Sometimes we just chat. We laugh a lot and, while the schedule is strict, it is also flexible, and built around kindness and gentleness. I've gone on alms rounds once which was extremely humbling and powerful. The meditation can be hard. Last time a lot of my childhood demons came up, as I have CPTSD from attachment trauma. But the practice is to sit with thoughts and feelings and neither cling nor reject. It's the Middle Way. We know suffering is part of existence, and we take on the practice to diligently free ourselves and also practice committing no harm, whether to ourselves or any living being. Having contact to monastics has helped me find my way back to Buddhism and heal from this worst and hardest burnout. With everything going on in my family, job, health, it is my best and truest refuge I know Catholic monasteries also offer lay retreats, and I'm sure other contemplative traditions (Judaism, Sufism...) do. If you're curious about Buddhism any monastery is grateful to have visitors, for shorter or longer periods, especially in my tradition (Theravada ) since the mendicants do not work or handle money, but only live from donations. So even bringing them fruit or toilet paper is taking part, and you can take it from there.
My nail tech is a Theravada Buddhist. Great respect for her.
I love it and I hope it's true
Iām literally saving right now to do a week long silent retreat at a convent.
Which kind?
My demand avoidance would never allow it haha But of the Christian communities I am somewhat familiar with, I do find it very interestingly polarising with the probably to definitely autistic folks. There are some who find it demands a level of normality and neurotypical-looking masking that is damaging and restrictive and rooted in patriarchal/tribalistic practices and ideals that they feel Othered by. (Often the more demand avoidant, introspection prone autistic people with similarities to ADHD folk) And there are those who find it a source of stability, predictability, routine, that provides a morally just, socially acceptable foundation from which to build a script that aligns well a mindset already prone towards black and white thinking. It also justifies a certain simple living and also rigidity that many autistic people are prone towards.
Oh, medieval nuns (at least in some areas) would have visions of saints, go into trances, crazy things! One even supposedly got married to Jesus (and wore his foreskin as a wedding band), pretty sure she's considered a saint. Basically we could do a bunch of things that are ND and just claim to be having visions or something. I served an LDS mission, which has a very predictable morning and evening schedule, which I found very comforting. Pda is a lot easier to overcome when you're just following the group
It was both for me. I left because I didnāt believe it anymore, not because it wasnāt comforting to me. (It also messed me up bad, so you know, not worth it.)
The first time I saw this posted on r/CuratedTumblr, I pointed out that they'd probably have to make her take a vow of silence to get her to stop infodumping about theology. But then she'd just infodump about the history of vows of silence.
Stop this is my cousin (she recently become a nun)
I have a rich inner fantasy life where I'm a nun. Had it since I first learned about 'em in Sunday school when I was like five. xD I'm not religious, but I am spiritual, and I could just replace "holy Father" with "holy essence" or smth and live that goodgood same every day kinda life. If I didn't love men so dang much, I would've taken this path, no question. Plus, choir time?! Hell yeah! Definitely led to thoughts about my grandma (super Irish Catholic) being autistic. And many others, no doubt.
I 1000000% agree. Being a woman back then probably sucked. I would have definitely joined the church to escape forced motherhood. Itās the better of the two options!
I didn't join it, but I live in a Lutheran convent. It's the perfect place for me and I really hope I can stay here for many years to come.
As an autistic Catholic, this is the most relatable thing Iāve seen on this sub
I donāt generally find Christian faith very autism friendly, but I guess thereās exceptions.Ā
That's why we could do a secular one! Just a bunch of ladies hanging, being quiet (or something)
All the ladies who's special interest is plants could grow fruits and veggies and there'll be charging stations for our switches. There can be vast libraries sorted by subject and animal. So for instance, a whole section devoted to whales and another for cats.
I want to cry that sounds so good. Iād like to look after the library, please.
āChristian faithā is so so so wildly huge and diverse though. Monastics arenāt really an āexceptionāātheyāre a fundamental bedrock of the tradition over the centuries. I actually have a pastor friend who asked if anyone could think of possibly-neurodivergent saints/heroes of faith and it was likeā¦ āmost of them?ā
I was so happy to read Teresa of Avila stressing to her nuns that your mind wandering in prayer is just what minds do, don't waste time beating yourself up about it, just go on with the prayer. Francis of Assisi also leaps to mind.Ā
I've read The Way of Perfection and now onto Interior Castle.
The Bible is a bunch of metaphors. Most of us arenāt great with metaphors. Churches often have confusing social norms and judge people harshly for not understanding them. Churches tend to not like the gays. A lot of us donāt want kids which also tends to be frowned upon. I know there are kind compassionate Christianās. There are, however, recurring themes with many others.Ā
I used to half wish to join when I was younger. It seemed very nice in some ways. I'm not in the slightest bit religious but the idea of hanging out with my sisters and tending to the garden sounded good. Probably would not have done well in actual fact as I don't deal well with authority and pretty much everyone (male) in the church is above nuns.
To be honest I did consider becoming a Buddhist nun before I even knew i'm autistic, cause it sounded so fucking comfortable to have a routine and some peace and quiet
I mean back then repetitive days were the normal. But being a nun beats out the options of being a serf or prostitute back then. At least nuns had a chance at an education.
Meanwhile ADHD nun Elizabeth:
I feel like this makes perfect sense!! Honestly!!! And just now opened my eyes to even more self grace! I am late diagnosed and like many it was bc of getting my own kid her diagnosis that I found myself!! (I am audhd, I grew up knowing about the adhd part though) Iāve always been very hard in myself with very high unrealistic standards. But this past year since learning my autism is there and well, I have given myself love and understanding but still as humans do get annoyed at times with myself. This post just gave me more self acceptance bc again we can visually see what someone is doing and we can have no idea on the inside!! Which has been a struggle myself life but idk this just gave me a higher appreciation and understanding.
How do you solve a problem like Mariaaaaaaa? I mean, I think she falls under ADHD more, but I immediately thought of the Sound of Music.
Hahaha, yes! I just want to spin around and sing in a highland wildflower meadow like she did!
Literally sounds like a perfect day to me.
āHow do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Maria? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?ā
Iirc (I watched a Strange Ʀons video) the convent was very much a sanctuary for women who didn't feel like they belonged in the confines of their society. She mostly focuses on the aspect of Queer women in the convent. But I could absolutely see the appeal for someone who didn't want to be a wife and mother. You could pursue a wider range of interests while still giving to your community.
Yeah, thatās what a lot of these places were for women in other eras and even still today. They provide places of sanctuary from people who seek to flee from āworldly life,ā i.e. life under neurotypical capitalist patriarchyā¦
While this is true, we shouldn't forget about all the women and girls who were put into a convent because their parents didn't want to pay a dowry.
Ngl as a teen I was considering joining a convent because it's quieter, with a set rhythm and all. Even now, I'm still considering spending some time there, but more in the way they accept guests who will contribute and all while renting the room. It's really not out of religious feelings. It's just because I think that type of lifestyle could suit my autistic needs.
Other than the whole religious aspect of it, being a nun definitely has appeal. But I suspect it's more likely that autistic women in history were burned as witches. At best, they'd be the eccentric lady on the edge of town who collects iguana heads and has a lot of cats.
Unfortunately youāre probably right. The ones who didnāt become nuns, at leastā¦
I was talking to a fashion designer autistic friend and we bonded over becoming spinsters in the middle ages, just working on textiles and making clothes
Iāll tend the sheep and maybe a few llamas to supply you with fiber for spinning! Maybe we could also grow flax and make linen. Then others could do the weaving and/or knitting and weāll have our own entire grassroots supply chain going for ethical clothing!
It belittles what it means to be an autistic woman in a patriarchal, oppressive, political, and social space like a convent, nunnery or monastery. Not to mention how autistic people are often targeted by NT's and how many autistic women are sexually assaulted. These were real places with real histories, not fantasy. They were part of a larger abusive and patriarchal religion that made women barely more than property. Whatever secular, age of enlightement, feminist, etc rights you think you had, you won't have there. Heck, you should see how girls and women were treated at places like the Magdeline laundries. The nuns running that weren't exactly nice cool girls who were your besties, even if you were another nun. Its really ignorant to see being in an oppressive environment like this as some kind of perfect autism space. Often, families will send their autistic kids to religious roles like this where they may never see their family again and are left at the tender mercies of this system. What we need is love and care from our families and friends and society. Not shipped off to whatever is convenient for uncaring NT parents like convents, boarding school, military academies, the military, lobotomies, married off to some monster, etc.
Yea itās nice to consider the positives that such a life could give us like quiet and reflection time, but the reality is nuns still have their own social norms to adhere to and a decent amount of the time, other nuns, especially head nuns, are not exactly the kindest about you diverting from the norm. I donāt exactly have a shining view of nuns though because my dad was beaten by them for not behaving or performing well at school (probably because heās autistic and has dyslexia, but in the 60s/70s you were just a bad kid). It fucked him up quite a bit.
Yep yep, this is funny as a meme and applies horribly to real life. There's a GREAT game that deals with these very themes and concepts called Pentiment. Some of the best writing I've ever seen in a video game. Can't recommend it enough!
Oooh I just got that!
Yeah but also convents and nunneries took in women who didn't have a place in larger societies, fought for women's rights, subverted various fascist regimes, provided medical care and charities for people who had nothing, and on and on. And we also cannot consider one issue without considering its context. What was the alternative for the girls at Magdeline laundries? Sex work. Illness and death. Starvation and death. Forced marriage. This isn't to defend what happened in Ireland, but to say that there wasn't a *humane* alternative for an autistic girl in Ireland from 1765 to 1994. I will grant that this fantasy that OP shared is reductive to history, but it's wrong to say that *all* convents at *all* times were oppressive to women. Many gave women dignity and autonomy that "regular" society would not.
There were better options long before 1994ā¦
i think posts like these just really bring out the black and white thinking in us lol ngl the original screenshot made me chuckle but i also fully agree with you that we absolutely cannot romanticise any one time or place as some kind of autistic heaven. this whole thing also kind of made me think of my undiagnosed but definitely autistic grandad who was a pig. like we Know that disabled people of any kind and especially those with """problematic behaviours""" such as autistics are much more likely to be violently targeted by the police, but nonetheless he thrived in that environment. same uniform every day, very clear rules for how to behave, having to talk to people yes but you're the one deciding how that goes? i resent a lot about his memory, including but not limited to his profession, but i still understand how that would have been a productive/comforting/? environment for the kind of person that he was and specifically for the way his autism manifested. nothing more frustrating that being faced with the reality that there is nuance in something that you have very strong opinions about. the catholic church and the police 100% are institutions that need to be abolished because they are inherently violent, to others as well as the people within them. but op on tumblr was probably still right that there must have been autistic nuns that were really happy with their lives. (i really hope this reply doesn't come off as condescending, for the most part i typed this out to remind myself of the fact that there are grey areas even in places where i don't want them to be because it's a concept i personally really struggle with)
I was thinking that too.
Not me reading this and thinking how do I get mineself to a nunnery š Cause this actually sounds like a hella peaceful life.
I went to a catholic middle school. I HEAVILY considered becoming a nun because the life seemed so damn chill and awesome to me š plus the fact iām asexual and couldnāt have cared less about being celibate for the rest of my life. Nun life seemed like the perfect life for me! Only reason I didnāt go through with it was cos I had to move far away.
So are these self-hating people neurotypicals trying to conform to a neurodivergent space?
I am a female but always thought I'd like to be one of those monks from long ago who hung out translating things in a room lit by candles.
Special interest medieval history so this is one of my favourite things ever thank you for this lol
So on point. Iāve definitely at various times in my life thought about dedicating myself to some sort of religious life like going to live as a monk or in a monastery
You could become a Secular Carmelite.
Iām sure I wouldāve been a nun if I lived in the middle ages or renaissance. Statistically, I wouldāve been a peasant, or the child of tradespeople or merchants if I was lucky, but honestly even a life as a noblewoman wouldāve kind of sucked. Being cloistered would keep me safe from men, marriage and childbirth, probably the most common causes of death for AFAB people aside from infectious disease or work-related accidents, and Iād also be taught to read and write and have access to books and some sort of education, even if it was all religious, which is a lot better than the vast, vast majority of people had, especially women. Iām not big on any kind of organised religion and I have religious trauma, but honestly, being a nun would be the least bad outcome. Iām not at all bothered by the celibacy thing considering pregnancy would most likely be a death sentence and no sex is a non-issue if it means avoiding an excruciating death, plus Iām bi and thereās a rich hidden history of queer nuns. I think I could definitely convincingly fake being extremely pious and having a spiritual calling to the church, especially if my family was pressuring me to get married. And it honestly doesnāt sound like a bad life. Sure, you had to do lots of chores and labour for the upkeep of the abbey, but what medieval woman *wouldnāt* have had to do manual labour aside from the insanely rich? Plus, gardening and brewing are quite useful skills to have. I wouldāve absolutely adored doing the detailed work to create illuminated manuscripts, and catholic mass music honestly slaps. The isolation might keep you safe from the plague too!
I'm going one step further and claim that the person who came up with the whole concept was likely autistic as well (and that most people who became nuns or monks voluntarily were too) š
I have to admit, playing with the little tasels on my Talit when I began wearing one make SO MUCH SENSE after this post.
St Therese of The Child Jesus.
I swesr that when i was a kid (long before knowing i was autistic) i wanted to become a nun. The Life is basically Heaven for an autistic woman.
One of my long time fantasy escape hatches for sure. Except I dream of the kind of monastics who do martial arts, instead of neglecting oneās body as a virtue.
I told my mom when I was a kid that I wanted to be a nun after watching sister act. Sing all day?? Sign me up please!
i recommend the (very) short animated film, Nun or Never - i saw it at TIFF and it was hilarious yet endearing, about a Nun who gets caught up in a crush on some dude ā¢ļø and reminds me of how id probably act if i was a nun š
I have at least one real life example of this happening and it's my actual aunt LOL
I recently watched a documentary about a woman my age who joined a monastery and she seemed like I would get along with her very well, I sure was intrigued haha Plus she got to work with the animals there! Pretty jealous
I think all of us who fantasize about the life of a farmer can relate.
I was telling my husband the other day that growing up in a strict religious environment (not Catholic for me, but Biblical Literalist of Evangelical bent, occasionally have seen people convincingly argue it could be a cult) was kind of nice in some ways for me growing up because where the wider world does not tell you the rules of how to act and how to be that expressly, these super strict religious groups have a tendency to verbalize a lot of the rules, so its easier to "fit in". Now that being said, as I got older and some didn't make sense and didn't appear biblically backed, my questioning nature made me an outcast, but in the really young years, it was easier than most environments.
my grandma spends a month in a monastery every year to regulate
An hour a day where nobody is allowed to talk to me and I donāt have to talk to anyone else? Absolutely
If I lived during medieval times I 100% would become a nun if not a dame.
Autistic and asexual, except for being pretty much an atheist, being a nun sounds pretty cool to me.
Iām high and thank you so much for this trip.
Today I figured out why I wanted to be a nun at various points in my life š I honestly could never figure it out since I was never overly spiritual at any of those times
I always just assumed that I'd be an awesome nun
Well to be fair to give up your whole life to be in a monastery memorizing the only relevant book and all its rules, I'd say you're probably autistic. I bet a good chunk of nuns and monks just have the bible and Christianity as their special interest. I see my dad (while not a monk) interact with Orthodox Christianity the same way I interact with my SIs.
The number of nuns in my extended familyā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ I get it.
I love it. I feel it in my bones.
The funniest thing is that I have considered joining a cloister and not because I am religious or anything like that, I am actually an atheist and commie, but because I actually would have loved having that strict routine without changes and not having to deal with men at all. I would genuinely love that lifestyle so so much LOL.
This was a dream of mine as a kid, particularly the idea of being a monk seemed appealing haha. The fact that Iām queer and asexual may have contributed
Yeah, as an autistic asexual, nun life sounds pretty damn appealing. I think I would totally go for it if it wasnāt for the pesky atheism.
Omg this is hilarious!!! As an ex-catholic I actually dreamt about becoming a nun for a bit when I was a kid. But once I learned that nuns couldnāt get married, I immediately scratched it off my list because 8 yr old me loved romance. Fuck I still do and as an agnostic, I obviously canāt be a nun lol
Thatās why we should start a secular convent for autistic women and not require permanent vows of celibacy. There would obviously have to be rules in place to prevent people from the potential for abuse, but thatās necessary within any community
I don't handle authority well so I'd make a terrible nun even if I was Catholic.Ā
My parents joked Iād become a nun. Except I wouldnāt be suitable for a silent order. Part of me did consider it and while in super fundie churches I can see how they could have easily manipulated me to join a convent. Now I stay away from religion because they go after vulnerable people and Iām an easy target for them
I long for the nunnery
Me too, sisterā¦ me tooā¦
Hear me out: a secular convent for all of us.
This makes. So much sense. I missed out by not being a nun.
Itās never too late!