Illness is a monastery

Came across the below quote yesterday. I loved it.

Illness is a monastery with its own rules, asceticism, silence, and inspiration. — Albert Camus

I have so often said that my plight was one of forced monasticism…one that bore much good fruit even if also painful. So that is the positive spin on all this. Dark nights of the soul do bear fruit.

This quote and thought keeps good company with yesterday’s post: More on When Friends Disappear During a Health Crisis

This too:

A sacred illness is one that educates us and alters us from the inside out, provides experiences and therefore knowledge that we could not possibly achieve in any other way, and aligns us with a life path that is, ultimately, of benefit to ourselves and those around us. – Deena Metzger

And you’ll find other posts below where I explore the concept of life in general being the monastery. The life of contemplation has been democratized.

• Life is a monastery — regardless of marital status

• Spiritual practice with partners and family as Zen masters

• When things are most challenging, we have great opportunity to heal and become whole