Settle Down, It'll All Be Clear

7. Don't be afraid to pray out loud. 

This was another fun thing I practiced at those 4AM holy hours, among other times. Sometimes, it feels very, very freeing and more conversational and intimate to pray out loud. I don't just mean praying with or over people, I mean full-on, crazy woman, talking out loud by yourself. Well, you don't have to be by yourself....

Or you can try pushing this button and see what happens to your prayer life...you never know.

(If you tried to actually push the button, please tell me. I need a good chuckle.)

8. There is always a good reason for a dance party! Drop everything and dance like crazy. 

As an ex-ballet dancer, a member of Stella Mariae household, and close friend of Michele Volk, I am naturally a huge advocate of spontaneous dance parties. I cannot count the number of times we opened up the door of good old room 209 or went down to the guys' room and cranked the tunes. People inevitably came out of the woodwork and joined the party, unless they thought we were weirdos...which is completely irrational. Or some people would just stand there and watch. Which makes them the weirdoes because its not as if we can actually dance well...Anyway, a few times, Sr. Sarah Rose joined in on our dance parties which just shows how awesome they were, and will continue to be. Apologies in advance if Stella wing is a bit noisy next year...I heard some crazy kids live there!

Michele dancing. 

My personal studies show that dance parties are proven to relieve final exams stress, travel planning problems, no internet Tuesdays, and many other diseases. There is always a reason to just let loose and let your real moves out. There are no excuses that you have something better to do. Stop. I don't want to hear them.

Me dancing.....

I won't dare to go into Julia and Ashley's dancing form...

9. Friends come and go, but family will always be there.

I just got back from a week-long family reunion with over 150 members of my extended family in a cabin in the mountains. I have no desire to discuss this one at this point as I am currently going through  PTSD. Thank you for your understanding.

10. This place is not our home... 

...even though it feels that way and its hard to think of anywhere else as home for a very long time. I've been home for almost 3 months now (unbelievable!) and it still feels like this is just another trip and I'll be walking back through the courtyard at the Kartause again, just in time for classes. When I looked through the back window of that bus on my way to the airport, I knew that wouldn't be my last glimpse of the Gaming. I'll be back. But it is so important emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, to know that these places and points in time that feel like "as good as it gets" or "the top of the world" are not the end, but only a tiny peek at what awaits us at the end of the tracks. Am I working my whole life, everything I do and say, for another chance to wander in the foothills of the Alps? Am I constantly striving for everything that is good, true, and beautiful, only to be culminated in my dreamlike explorations of the beauty and good times that Europe has to offer? Where is home, then, if not "where the heart is"? That's just it. Even as I type, it is hard for me to trust in this fact. Gaming is not my home, heaven is. Home is where the capital H Heart is. That's home. Until I can fully comprehend this, I will always be searching for that warmth that Gaming and the Kartause brings. Or maybe that's just the warmth of my comforter that I will never forget...

My Comfort, My Shelter.

As my very wise friend Kevin put it so well recently, "Our memories of Austria are a proof of God and our final end as beatific life in heaven, because we have this seemingly insatiable need for that feeling again, a desire for repose in our beloved. "

Yes, that was said in a casual Facebook chat message. Stay tuned for his future encyclicals.

May we all find that repose one day soon, and not get sidetracked by shiny distractions, however tempting it may be, keeping us from our true Home.