The swimming pool in my house

Note the metal door to the right of the school sign.

January 7, 2015
Day 252

I honestly don't think much about the perks of being a monk in the place I lived, but occasionally, a little reminder comes my way out of the blue.

I purposely stay away from social media concerning my former monastery, not out of hatred--just hurt.  I lived there, prayed there, ate and drank there.  I went on fun trips with the people I knew there, and just spent so much of my life from 18 to 22 with them.  And then, in just a matter of minutes one day, I was banished from the kingdom.

Regardless of the pain I still carry, there were absolute perks of being a brother there too: 

I had the key to every classroom in the school, and visited the ones I remembered from my freshman year of high school (the one year I was a student there before failing out).  I have distinct memories of turning the key and walking in, just absorbing the rooms one more time, allowing myself a weird sense of peace about the failures of my past. 

When I needed something from the bookstore, I just took it.  It wasn't the kind of the thing I ever felt comfortable doing, but I genuinely appreciated the ability to go to the school bookstore, just outside the brothers' home, and take what I needed.  We just let the brother in charge know what we took, and he noted it in his records.

Toiletries were always there, and should I need a new deodorant, toothbrush, box of tissues, towel, or anything else like that, it was just a few feet away.  One brother was in charge of buying all these items and keeping the shelves stocked, and another brother did the same with all the sheets and towels.  Things truly ran like a well oiled machine!

Food was not in short supply.  That's the nice way of saying a Vow of Poverty does not have to mean actual poverty.  We ate well there, and we had so many different types of foods too.  The community lifestyle means pooling resources well, and you quickly learn how such a little amount of money can accumulate when it's shared.  Truly a loaves and fishes experience!

Speaking of pooling...by far, the coolest part of being a monk in this particular community was:

I had a swimming pool in my house!  My bedroom was just a 20-second walk to the pool area, so it could be 10:00 at night in January, a blizzard outside, and I could go for a swim before bed.  I don't know how often some of us did, but it was hardly a rare occasion, and certainly in the summertime, it was quite often.  The Olympic-size swimming pool is truly something the school can be proud of, but for me?  For me it was the perk of all perks, and I appreciated it very, very much!