Witt's End

Recovery. Progress. These are two terms I talk about all the time. The path that happens when we choose to address something. It's the next phase of the journey. And it can lead to healing. Currently it's the entire focus on what I do. Just supporting people in their recovery.  But I can't be a hypocrite. I have to put in the work for myself. Maintaining that recovery for myself and the progress I've made. It's been quite the journey. And every time I think about a potential destination the goal posts move. What I expect of myself changes. I think that's a healthy place to be. It's taken a lot of work. It will continue to take work. There's no end. Just a new way of living.  It's causing me to reflect on the faith that helped get me here. Faith, works, grace. The whole lot of it.  My entire life there has been quite the focus on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it's role in our lives for redemption and salvation. It's an essential piece of h...

I think we all should think that the Amendments of the Constitution Should Matter. That they define a large part of the rights and responsibilities of the subjects and nation we all live in. I worry that is not the case. Why? They're looking at three terms. And the option mentioned in news reports is literally Putin's playbook.  That's what we're dealing with.  We are looking at a body of people fighting for a third term. And I can't believe it.  This administration doesn't care one bit about the constitution. Let's review the 22nd amendment . "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President" It's pretty cut and dry. Now I don't always think the originalism of the supreme court has got it right. But most of the time those my hesitance and disagreements are about differences of recognizing historical precedent and analogues. That was always ...

 Dear God, What are we going to do? I fret. I worry. I toss and turn. I can't lose the sleep that I'm not having. It's a forgone conclusion.  So I'm just talking. Without thinking. Letting these thoughts race.  There are too many suffering. Too many worrying. So much more than me. I have been given much alongside my trials, my tribulations, my sorrows. I can't ever lose sight of that. But tonight. These days. I struggle to go to work without shaking. I struggle to concentrate. And I don't think I'm alone.  I may be considered a snowflake for this. A bleeding heart. That's just who I am. I care.  I know these prayers are usually private. That's the way I was raised. And in my streams of consciousness that's usually how it goes. But right not my heart is breaking. And words on a page makes the most sense to me. Is cathartic. Necessary for me. What can I do? Other than shouting in the void. Other than the limited work I keep doing day after day.  It...

I hate not being believed. That's happened a lot recently. But the pain of this one has been offset by a pain that came before.  I want to take us back to COVID times. One of the darkest times in my life.  When COVID was tearing through this country. Early on in the process I was pulled up from working in long term care and hospice to help run an emergency unit for COVID patients. These patients were residents of the Washington State Veterans Home. The unit was dealing with an outbreak. We had to stand up and isolate a unit and pull staff from all over the hospital to help provide care for these veterans and spouses.  I was working in the Community Living Center as a nurse's aid. That portion of the VA was a two wing unit that was a rehab and hospice center. We had to clear all of those patients out and move them into other portions of the hospital to make our COVID unit.  During my time on that unit I helped nurses from primary care navigate the EHR they'd never use...

I believe in being earnest. More and more with time. I know I still have a sarcasm gene that I need to address, I can't deny that; but I feel a growing compulsion toward sincerity. This need to stand behind what I do, and what I say. To be true to the emotions and feelings I hold. Through it all I think there's a level of humility and integrity that can only come from being earnest. The world needs kindness, hope, and connection. And I truly have come to believe that we need earnestness to accomplish that. We need some sincerity and some seriousness. In everything we do. But especially in how we express ourselves. I try to say what I mean. In speech and by pen. Express it honestly. Always. The sincerity of what I try to write leads to scrupulousness. I’m very serious in my writing. To a fault. And because of that I take things to heart. Maybe too much.I don't know how well that's served me.  I've written in the past about the accusations of being softhearted, of bei...