Cloistered religious life is only suited to a few.
Historically, it was the extra children of the landed gentry that were sent into religious orders. So as not to dilute the inheritance of the namesake child.
Poor people were rarely accepted into cloisters... they had to have a sponsor that would “gift” the church; preferably land that could be rented out.
For a street-level view of Catholic practice re: religious orders, I recommend the books by Ken Follet “The Pillars of the Earth” and “World Without End”.
And in Medieval times, aristocratic widows often became cloistered nuns. Sometimes forced by family!
During the Middle Ages women could not live alone, they needed to live under the guardianship of a male. That was a problem because there were many more women than men. The men were off fighting and getting killed in various wars and Crusades.
So where would the women live? The convents required a sizable dowry that only the rich could afford. The Beguines offered an alternative. They were ‘sort of’ like convents but not as strict, not as expensive, and the vows were not eternal. Women could enter the beguine and maybe leave at a later time.
Maybe we need to begin the beguines again! ;-)