Postulant Points--the new board game

Dear Gentle Readers,

It's a fall Saturday here in New England. There was a mysterious shroud of fog this morning which the asst. superior said reminded her a joke about Jack the ripper and John the Baptist. Everyone was hanging on her every word. "What did they call John the Baptist?" Blank looks and wandering eyes were changed into bright smiles and heavy laughter when she said, "John the dipper"....perhaps you had to be there. As I was walking out of the morning meeting, there was a tug on my arm and I looked down and there was Sister B. who is about 90 years old and sometimes crazier than a bed bug. I caught her talking to her cane the other day. She looked at me and said, "Do you know any other jokes?" This comes from a few days ago when she was talking about being so old, and I looked at her and said, "well, to me, you look only 25..." She laughed and laughed and then said, if I'm 25 then you arent even born.

This week I've discovered the biggest gift I have been given. It's the gift of being comfortable in my skin and acknowledging that who I am is who I am and that's a gift- it's a peaceful reassurance that gives me such a freedom to be myself, bad jokes, spikey hair and all. I am relieved of the weight and anxiety of comparisons to other people. Oh but I've been there and I used to judge who I was as a person on the inside by other's outsides. With this gift, comes a greater freedom to enjoy the process here without worrying what the superior or the asst. superior are thinking- a freedom to be in the moment and with God. As a result, I've had the idea to create a board game based on the idea of the bad postulant and the postulant point system. Each player will start with 1000 points and then the winner loses points by landing on various places on the board and/or gaining extra points.

Here are some examples of how to lose points--(some of these I've already done--some I'm making up) See if you can figure out which ones I've done

1.) Making hazelnut coffee so strong that others complain about you---50 points off
2.) Rolling into chapel 30 seconds before service---15 points off
3) Dropping your prayer book during service--25 points
4) Breaking the grand silence
5) doing your laundry when the house sister is doing the community laundry
6) Ignoring the other postulant
7) Falling asleep during your turn at the Blessed Sacrament
8) Spilling coffee on the library books
9) Giving the dog too many treats
10) getting in a car accident in a community car
11) using the community email account to spam other internet users
12) Not wearing a cross of some sort before going out

This list goes on and on--- I'd love it if you all would help create some more.

My day today looks like this--
10-1030 Blessed Sacrament Watch
1030- check in in the kitchen--hopefully it will be a short time
11-12 read
12--noon office
1215-1pm-- set up and serve dinner
130-230pm --spiritual direction
230pm-430pm--read/study/rest
500pm psalm practice
530 evening prayer
6pm supper
730pm choir--apparently I'm getting much better!!
830--compline
9pm --make sure that my hazelnut coffee is ready to brew for tomorrow--read--listen to music
10pm-sleep

Lots of love-
Monk1975