A former nun on why she ran away from her 'Cloistered' life
Summary
Catherine Coldstream discusses her memoir, *Cloistered*, detailing her twelve years as a Carmelite nun after leaving a bohemian artistic background. She describes the strict silence, disciplined routine, and spiritual intensity of monastic life, contrasting it with the psychological cruelty and authoritarian abuse she endured. Coldstream explains her eventual departure to reclaim personal freedom and adjust to the noisy, messy world outside the cloister.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Catherine Coldstream's life as a Carmelite nun
The paradox of silence and words in monastic life
Grief, father's death, and the call to solitude
Daily routine, discipline, and the horarium
Interior freedom and the monastery's physical setting
Living quarters, the habit, and symbolic identity
Uniformity, equality, and the meaning of the habit
Spiritual marriage to Christ and erotic metaphors
Obedience, power dynamics, and abuse by the prioress
Psychological cruelty and isolation within the order
Leaving the monastery and adjusting to the secular world
Review of Will Ferrell's new series The Hawk
Listen ad-free on Castria