Witt's End

Weariness, fatigue, exhaustion. It goes by several names. It does. That state of cumulative, pernicious tiredness. Stacked over time it clouds, it weakens, and eventual it can break. This isn't coming out of the blue. This is observational. Few things hasten the inevitable stacking that becomes fatigue greater than stress. These days there is more than enough to go around. The worst part is I don't think that its over. That's not pessimism, it's pragmatism speaking. The real world health risks and damages of the current virus is impossible to overlook. For some o us we can't even pass it to the back of our mind. No matter who we are, quarantines, economic welfare, and the direct consequences never leave us. That leads me to the next point. We may all be in the same storm but we are not in the same boat. It's not a unique view of the situation by any means. But it's one that won't leave this brain of mine. It's the truthfulness of it all that keeps on...

This may be the last religious post in a little while, maybe not. We'll see. I've had some reflecting myself to do with this one. Big time. But that's a good thing I think. The hardest thing to judge is someone's spirituality or religiosity. There are some observable factors of devotion can be apparent from the outside but the majority of worship is too innately personal to be visible. I think the more sacred something is to a person, the more private it becomes. I've had to really take this to heart. For two main reasons, one, I've had a couple epiphanies. Two, I'm in need of real change. The first epiphany I had is that differences in practice and doctrine do not mean a lack of devotion. The second is that change can be too subtle measure. I think doctrinal differences can be a source of admiration, envy, and conflict. I'll admit that this is one place where I fall short. It's a source of friction and misunderstanding that leads to judgemen...

It's interesting how some topics worm their way into your mind. It's also interesting how some topics seem to addressed by multiple people at the same time you focus on something, or maybe we're just more attuned to others talking about it at that time. I've been looking through some old journals of mine, and listening to some discussions about this topic. Self care. What does that mean? What is it's purpose? I mean that sincerely especially in a spiritual or religious context. Some have stated that it’s self indulgence, or in opposite fashion a call to service. I think the real answer lies somewhere in the middle. I think we could often replace the term self care with the synonym of self reflection. That repentance is an essential part of the real paradigm of self care. That the atonement of Jesus Christ is the mechanism of true self care. In this life we will face sin, pain, affliction, weakness, illness, and infirmity. That is not only an essential part of this m...

Our heroes fall sometimes. They stumble, the muddle, they get tired just like everyone else. Superman has kryptonite, Spider-Man went crazy with the symbiote suit, Achilles had his heel. There are weaknesses and flaws in all of us. The strongest of us.  But because we've placed them on a pedestal for whatever reason, it's exponentially more noticeable. And that can be the hardest thing to recognize and understand. But the most important lessons come from failure, and not always our own. We can't learn how to truly get back up unless we watch someone we respect do the same thing. I've been thinking about this a lot. A large portion of this is a spiritual thing, and another part of it is deeply personal. But examples of mistakes, those are valuable lessons I'll never forget. When I think about stumbles I've witnessed. Whether it was drugs, sex (infidelity or other issues), an injury, or fraud. There have been some stumbles that have caught my breath. I don't k...

There are a lot of strong feelings about religion. Even as I write that sentence I can feel the understatement sinking in. I began writing this a couple weeks ago and things have continued to weigh in on my mind on this topic. A few weeks ago I spent some time reflecting on the specific issue regarding the financial holdings and investments of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It spawned a level of discussion I was not anticipating. Some conversations that have resulted in requests on my time, energy, and focus I have not yet finished but wholeheartedly plan to. It got me reflecting a lot about my relationship with my faith in general. As I found myself looking at the current political climate that internal dialogue and investigation went even deeper. Now that the Utah senate has voted to decriminalize polygamy this will just cause more reflection and scrutiny. As will Mitt Romney’s discussion of faith and it’s role in his impeachment votes. I've written some about f...

I've been frustrated. I've been reading a lot, and I could post a lot of articles but I'm not going to. I'm going to have a frank discussion and bypass something I've been working on for two weeks for a few minutes and write something from the heart. I'm worried that my sincere desires and actual wishes are sometimes misconstrued and lost in the cyberspace deluge of loud voices and soundbites we call social media. I feel the need to express a couple things here. One, how lost I feel in this increasingly partisan political climate. Especially as someone who wants to be involved in policy and wants to genuinely make changes to society. Two, what my policy goals on a very controversial position is. Those are on my mind and I'm getting it out real quick. So the first point. As some feel lost and caught in between two diametrically opposed political parties. Each with blatant flaws, and focused in on linchpin issues seemingly designed to divide us and g...