Back from the dead

A couple of years ago I started a blog in the middle of a huge crisis in my life: I was leaving Mormonism, and it was causing all kinds of trouble for me and my family. Those first few anguished months were pretty much all Mormonism all the time; I had been so immersed in Mormonism that I couldn’t imagine life outside of it. It wasn’t just a Sunday religion; it was a worldview.

Two years later I find that I actually do have a life; I exist as an individual outside my role as priesthood holder and church member. Who knew? But Mormonism still plays a role in my life every day. My wife and most of my children are still heavily involved in church, as are my parents and one of my siblings. And it doesn’t help that we moved back to Utah last year. But Mormonism doesn’t have the same “life and death” feeling it used to, and I can look back and laugh about ever feeling that it was that important to me.

I have also scaled back my participation on Mormon-related message boards. (I knew it was time to go when someone referred to me as belonging to “Team Jesus.”)

But more important to me than my transition out of Mormonism was my growing more comfortable with writing in general. I had lost that part of me along the way, which is ironic since I am a writer by profession. But I had forgotten how to put myself into my writing, and blogging helped me regain that part of me. So, I hope that whoever reads this will find something valuable; if not, I’ll enjoy it anyway.