Five times 15.
Hello.
Hi.
Hope you can see me.
Yes, it's great to be here.
Thank you so much.
So it's over 20 years since I left behind the closed world that I describe in Cloistered,
which is the account of my 12 years as a contemplative Carmlite nun, as Jack said.
And you know, it was.
It was a dismal, gray January day, very depressing day,
when I stepped beyond the grill with its bars,
its walls, its keys, its barriers, and strapped into the passenger seat of my sister's car.
It's one of those old Citroen de Chevaux cars, embraced an uncertain future.
It was a future far away from the securities and the restrictions that I'd known as to none being inside,
which was a cloistered life, which meant we were secluded,
or as we called it, enclosed meant a life of dedication and protection.
It meant a firm sense of purpose,
but it also meant being exposed to intense levels of experience that required certain staying power and a certain resilience.
So human nature didn't stop being human nature just
because you were in the cloister and wearing a floor length habit and acres of veil and sandals.