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Pretty in Pink

When bald was beautiful: Kate Wheeler remembers her temporary ordination in Burma.

Kate Wheeler

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From the moment the rusty razor first scraped across my scalp, the experience of nunhood was surprising. I hadn’t expected to look good bald, but I thought I did. Once I learned how to keep its skirt from slipping off, the carnation-pink nun’s robe made me feel as glamorous as a ballerina.

My teacher gave me the name Khemanandi (pronounced K-hay-mah-nahn-dee), meaning “Bliss without Fear.” In my fabulous pink robes, with my beautiful new name,

I believed that I would sink deeper and deeper into quietude and purity. Before being ordained, I’d thought of nunhood essentially as a personal commitment, almost a secret event—the ceremonial change of status mere window dressing for a profound change of heart within.

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