Hi Kyle,
Thank you for your comment, and hats off to you for taking your own version of vows.
You may want to consider writing for our monastery. I realize you are still forming your ideas, but aren’t we all? And I like the idea of us all supporting — in our own modest ways — various interpretations of the so-called New Monasticism.
The Little Creek Monastery is a huge site, but with a very very small following, so I can’t promise you fame and fortune, lol. But one thing you maybe want to think about is a series of articles or essays that sort of build the case for your ideals and vision of a monastery, kinda one step or perspective at a time. That’s basically how I started, with concepts that ranged from fuzzy or non-existent in the beginning to a few things that were fairly clear. Point being, it doesn’t all have to be perfect or laid out in a single essay. You’re very welcome to express that here.
Anyway, just a thought that I thought I’d throw out there.
I also like the idea of eventually forming a loose, informal collective of monasteries. That way, people would have more choice when it comes to identifying with a monastic style and approach that more closely reflects their own goals and needs. One of our very early monks formed his own monastery back when we were over on G+, which at the time he named The Hymnal of Nothing. It was a virtual site, built like a book. As you flipped the pages, he had either a prayer, a chant or a short meditation. Some of his original work remains on our site.
All the best, Mark
