Friday, April 21, 2017

I am Atheist

I am Atheist. I am very proud of it. It is who I am.


I was raised a Mormon and I always had questions about religion. The timeline in the bible never made sense. A god who expected humans to be perfect, seemed cruel. A god who “gave” us sexual urges but told us not to act on them, seemed even more cruel. None of it made sense, but I went with the flow so I could fit in (I also was afraid of what my parents would say/do if I expressed my doubts, rightly so). Particularly as a teenager, I felt like I had no choice. It was not until I was excommunicated for wanting to keep my own child, and enjoying the sex that I had to make her, that I began to really wonder if there was a god at all.


I do not believe in any form of god. For a while I considered myself agnostic. I was unsure if a god did or did not exist. If a god did exist I knew he wasn’t the god Mormons worship, who claim he cares what type of underwear you put on in the morning.


Mormons idea of god also tells you it is not ok to judge, but at the same time tells Bishops and other church authorities to judge people and kick them out of their church. The majority of Mormons are not welcoming to people who have “sinned”. Many other religions react similarly to “sinners”. It is difficult for me to understand why people who are religious are so judgmental and have a, “I am better than you attitude”. Shouldn’t you have a lot of love for the people who need it most or are “struggling with faith”? (as religious people would put it)  


The more I thought about religion the less it made sense. The more history and science I studied, the less I thought god existed at all.


God, is something humans created when we didn’t know the earth was a sphere. We didn’t know the earth revolved around the sun. There is a lot we still do not know. God was created to fill in the gaps when we knew much less than we do now. We still do not know everything, but at this point, there is no need to have something to fill in the gaps. “I don’t know” is a perfectly valid answer. Not knowing and trying to figure it out is much better than making up a fairy tale to somewhat explain, and never trying to figure it out.    


Yes I am dying my eyebrows naked, because why not. A
photo I never would have published when religious. 
I believe in science. There is overwhelming evidence that points to life evolving from small organisms millions and millions of years ago. We were not created a few thousand years ago by a god with the flick of his wrist. Anyone who lets their belief in something magical get in the way of science, needs to rethink their beliefs.


If you believe god used the big bang to create the universe, or used evolution as a way to create humans, that is a cop out. If you go back that far and say, “that is where god’s hand is” you will realize that god does not need to exist. The universe and earth does not have to have a creator.


I believe humans are good. I believe we are born with empathy. We do not need religion to make us good. We should not be taught being good gets us a reward after we die. We should be good and nice because it is the right thing to do. Yes, there are people who are bad people, and they need help, not from religion though, help from doctors and physiologists. The average human is nice and kind, because it is how we have evolved.


I became an atheist in just the past year or two. Atheism can be a hard pill to swallow. It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that there is no life after this. The life we are living today is all we have. There is no afterlife, no heaven, no hell, just now and here.


The realization that this life is all I have, has made me a better person. I do not worry about the little things any more. I will never be perfect. I do not need to live by any silly religious rules to get a better life when I die. There is nothing when you die. I love the life I have. I make the most of it every single day because I know it is all I have. This earth and life is so amazing. I plan on enjoying every possible moment of it until the day I become worm food, and get recycled back into this beautiful universe.


Thanks for reading!


Monday, April 3, 2017

Septum Piercing - Two Week Update

I am absolutely loving my septum piercing. Today is the two week mark since getting it done.


Typical healing period for a septum piercing is 4-6 weeks. Yesterday was the one third to half way mark, so I thought it was a great time for an update (read my post, Septum Piercing to hear all about my piercing experience)!

So far my piercing site it is feeling pretty good. It is much less sore that it was last week. It has hand a few bumps/bonks which is why I am really proud it is doing so well. RJ went in for a kiss a little too enthusiastically one evening, right after a bit of rumpy pumpy, and bumped it pretty good. Heather elbowed me, Rose head butted me, and Heather elbowed me a second time (she likes to climb, especially on me).  Aside from a bit of swelling after each bonk, it felt better quickly after the initial ouch was gone.


My care routine has changed slightly. The traditional sea salt soaks were a little too harsh on my nose. The piercing itself was feeling fine but the rest of my nose was getting raw and sensitive. I watered down my salt soaks but my nose didn’t feel better. I decided to try just warm water for a day or two and see how things went. After the first day my nose was feeling much better and my piercing seemed to be doing just as well. I am not a professional but switching to plain water has really helped my healing process.


One of the small children who was having a
particularly fussy day.
I’m going to get a little gross here for a minute and talk about boogers (I’m sure it has crossed some people's minds). Spring is in full swing here in Georgia. There is a coat of yellow pollen on everything outside. I have come down with a good case of allergies, and obviously that means extra boogers. I have this irrational (possibly not so irrational) fear of boogers hanging from my piercing and no one telling me about it while I go around doing daily tasks. Luckily, this has not happened, and I do not think it will. When doing water soaks twice a day my nose gets cleaned out pretty thoroughly and do not have many issues during the day.


I am very happy with my piercing, it is healing well. If I didn’t have small children it probably would heal even faster because it wouldn’t get so many accidental bonks. I am still having days when it feels sensitive and new, but I love it.


If you are thinking about getting a septum piercing I highly recommend it. It is a good, first, facial piercing. With the right jewelry it can be turned up and completely hidden. It leaves no visible scar tissue. It is not a cartilage piercing so it heals quickly. And if you go to the right piercer the piercing will be quick and the pain will be very short.


If you have any questions I am happy to answer them! Thanks for reading!