I know other people’s dreams are boring, but indulge me here for a minute. Last night I dreamt that my mom somehow got me to church. As we sit down in the chapel, I ask her why she hadn’t told me we were going to church, and she says, “Because otherwise you wouldn’t have come!” [...]
Browsing Posts in Recovery
I’m keenly aware that a lot of my dear readers are walking into delicate, tenuous family situations this Thanksgiving. Ouch. I’m so sorry. Let me tell you about Thanksgiving 2005. I’d told my family in June that I no longer believed in the church. Months later, they were still SO NOT OVER IT. The dinner [...]
I found this question waiting for me in my Formspring this morning: Can your techniques and know-how on “lapse-hood” apply to other religions as well? That is, would they apply to lapsed Catholics, lapsed Hindus, lapsed Shiites etc.? Please advise. From: Your fans in the Himalayas (really). Of course! I am a guru to all [...]
Somebody I love is standing on the precipice and peering over the edge. Mormonism isn’t working for her, or at least the church isn’t working for her. She’s having a hard time with “opinions.” “I figure that doctrine, and the ten commandments and stuff, that’s what’s important,” she said. “Yes,” I said, “but checking things [...]
It would seem that my Spanish class this semester is designed to bring about greater fluency by forcing us to have excruciating conversations with our classmates. “What qualities are important in order for you to like somebody?” my professor asked. I blushed deeply and whispered, “I like people that aren’t too conservative or too religious.” [...]
There’s a woman in my parents’ ward that we’ll call Sister Ogden. I met her when my mom introduced us at the grocery store, and then a few months later she and I took the same Spanish history class. She never missed an opportunity to criticize the Catholic church in class, which I found embarrassing, [...]
The other day Mr. Snitch saw me reading this blog and asked what I was reading about. “Mormonism,” I said. “What else?” “Ah,” said he. “Your hobby.” My hobby? Is Mormonism really my hobby? Oh my lord, I think it is. I mean, I read books, but they’re often about Mormonism or religion in general. [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be my real, authentic self. I am admittedly biased, but I feel that I am very real and authentic most of the time, and it quite often gets me in trouble, like when somebody asks when I’m going to settle down and have kids, [...]
I’ve been enjoying my summer vacation, and by that I mean I’ve been listless, restless, and bored out of my goddamn mind. I realize that I’m unlikely to garner any sympathy by talking about how boring it is to have absolutely nothing to do all day, and when I tell you how I’ve been filling [...]
I know it’s corny to have a spiritual breakthrough in yoga class, but I’m gonna let you in on a little secret: I’m super-corny. So anyway, I’m lying on my yoga mat in savasana, or corpse pose (best pose ever!) and my teacher was talking about perfectionism and how it’s soul-killing. She said, “You are [...]
