Lots Of New Experiences

I have had a lot of pretty significant experiences over the last month, so I thought I would take a moment to reflect on what I learned.  I guess I will start with the first experience since my last post and work forward chronologically.

First, I hyperextended my elbow snowboarding in Tahoe 3 weeks ago.  Luckily, it was at the end of the day, but it hurt like a mother.  It is still healing up and it has really hindered my ability to work and play.  I have broken 31 bones and had many more sprains, dislocations, etc., so I have experience being temporarily handicapped, but it is such a pain trying to do everyday activities.  Lesson learned:  I am not a young man anymore, so I should probably slow down and not do crazy things as much.  It has also made me very grateful to have functioning limbs most of the time.  I love to play guitar and drums, which I haven’t been able to do with my arm hurt.  I am just happy it is only temporary because I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t play instruments or do outdoor things that I love doing.

Second, I have been working on a music video for a rap artist in Reno, and I showed him the final product while I was out visiting family.  He absolutely loved the video and was jumping up and down and shouting while watching it because he was so excited.  It made me realize that I love doing film projects and I should be more ambitious about trying to step up my film productions. 

Third, I was in Denver for a conference for my new job.  I am working at BYU, but there were people from all over the country at the conference and I was one of two LDS people out of 200+.  During the sessions, almost everybody was watching the clock, waiting for the next break so they could go smoke a cigarette.  Then, as soon as the day’s sessions were over, they would all go to the lobby bar and get hammered.  It made me realize how grateful I am to not be dependent on substances to try to make me happy.  I am not saying that people who smoke and drink are bad people, but I could see how they have become slaves to their addictions.  Several people gave me a hard time for not going along with everyone else to drink and smoke, and some kept pushing me to try a drink, but I stood my ground.  I told them I like being in total control of myself and by using substances, I would not be in total control of myself.  By the end of the week, I had actually earned the respect of some of the people who had previously been giving me a hard time.  I learned that it is important to stand firm in your beliefs, even if you stand alone.  It sounds cliché, but if I had given in to peer pressure, nobody would have respected me or my beliefs.

Fourth, my new job is giving me some really great opportunities to not only do what I love, but to help others find the joy I find in expressing myself through the arts.  The position I have is fairly unique and it was actually created just for me to cater to my skills and experience.  The group I work with puts together conferences for teachers to come learn new art concepts/techniques and implement them in their classrooms.  Since I have a background in media arts, that is my main area of focus.  The idea is that these teachers will then focus more on molding a “whole” student rather than just focusing on the core curriculum and teaching to the test.  The teachers who have been implementing more art activities in their classrooms have seen, on average, a 40% rise in students’ standardized test scores.  It just goes to show that art and expression are important in creating a “whole” person.  I hope that when I have children, I will be able to create an environment that encourages them to express themselves.  It also made me realize that I need to keep up my artistic pursuits and finish some of my projects that have been sitting half-finished for a long time. 

I am very grateful I have had all of these experiences in such rapid succession.  I have been pretty busy lately, but I have learned a lot.  My hope is that I will be able to remember what I have learned and keep adding to it. 

Thoughts on Conference

For those of my friends who are not LDS, my church had General Conference this weekend, which is where leaders of my church give guidance to the members. I don't really like to use social media for religious stuff, and I am not trying to convert anyone, but I had some thoughts about what I heard over the last two days.

Everybody hears different messages from conference - usually what they need to work on - and every talk can be quite personal if you allow it to be. A lot of what I took from conference was that we all can work a little harder at being the best we can be, but we are not alone. One talk that hit me kind of hard was by Ronald A. Rasband, in which he talked about physical afflictions. I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed when he was talking about his grandchild who was born with severe physical defects.

Obviously I am going through some physical afflictions, so I paid more attention. He said, "A perfect body is not required to achieve a divine destiny. In fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail frames." I don't think I necessarily fit into the "sweetest spirits" category, but I do think my physical afflictions have helped me take a different perspective on life. I can see how everything is working together to try to make me a better version of myself.

Another talk that stuck out was by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He basically talked about how we should not judge others and how we should be more forgiving. A memorable quote was from a bumper sticker that said, "Don't judge me because I sin differently from you." Unfortunately, Utah has a lot of really judgmental people. It was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here, and I have also heard that from a lot of other people who move to Utah. My whole thought on the matter is that we all have different trials, so why should we judge somebody when we have no idea what they are going through? To quote a song by the punk band the Street Dogs, "Nobody knows the shape of other men. He could be looking well but his life is a living hell."

The final talk I will mention was by Henry B. Eyring. He talked about trials, and how challenges give us experience and build faith. Again, this talk stood out to me because I am going through some pretty big trials right now. A quote I remember is, "Lord, give me mountains to climb." I feel like I am climbing some mountains, but I can see how my challenges are helping me. He also talked about how personal integrity should be at the foundation of our character and faith.

This got me thinking about how rare integrity is in the world today. Most of the political leaders and leaders of big companies are incredibly corrupt. But I was also thinking about how little actions can add to or take away from our integrity. For example, I constantly have people tell me they will be to an activity, but then they are either really late or they don't show up at all. I have always tried to be the type of person that can be counted on for anything. When I say I am going to do something, I want people to know that I will actually do it and that I will be on time to do it. It used to be a social norm that a person's word was his bond, and to question a person's word was a very big deal. Unfortunately, we now live in a society where people say a lot of things, but don't back up their words with action.

Anyway, those are just my first thoughts after General Conference. I didn't consult any notes or anything, so I might get something different out of the talks when I listen to/read them again. That is the great thing, though. The messages are both universal and personal, and you can get something new out of every talk when you visit it again later.