Hi space_monk

I think it is normal to have times where you are very active, and times where you want to meditate on your own. For me, it depends on the world outside (the more I am out, the less time I spend at my computer and in the monastery) as well as on the activity inside. (If there are new and interesting threads, I am thrilled ... however if there are lots of do-my-homework-for-me or I-want-to-parse-XML-with-a-regex-nodes, I get bored. And then I reduce my activity here.). And it depends on how much perl I'm currently using (the more I use it, the more questions I have, and the more often I visit the monastery).

I consider that being OK. The benefit of the monastery is that you can advance at any speed you want. The XP-game just encourages you to be active - to provide your wisdom by writing your own nodes or by giving feedback by voting. It is not the sole purpose of the monastery (see chorobas comment above on being just a number), however it is working very well to ensure lots of active monks. Monks who know that XP is just a number. But for some it is a higher number than for others (as some wise monk (moritz?) wrote to the chatterbox long ago).

Do you want advice? Any path you choose is fine. Eventually, it will bring you to sainthood (and hopefully not into the night).

So long, Rata