Coming out for me was not just telling the world I was gay, it was re-examining everything I believed, why I believed it, and changing the things that just didn't make sense anymore. So I'm thinking this might be some sort of series -- but I'm lazy and rarely complete series. So. Anyway. Yeah. There's a lot of these swimming around in my head. Here's the first.
What I used to believe: That there was one true path to God. One way to happiness. That God wants us to be one, big, homogenized family.
What I believe now: Well, I don't believe that God exists. But I believe that if he does exist, he made us all the way we are. I believe that if he exists, he loves the Andy Warhols as much as he loves ... Glen Beck? Maybe? I believe that happiness is found by expressing your personal freedoms. I believe that we are damn lucky if we get to discover who we really are, deep down, in this life. Even luckier if we have the opportunity to express it. I believe that one should not do harm to others or the earth. But I do not believe in sin.
How it affects my life: I don't worry about fitting into an imaginary mold anymore. I focus on being me, doing what brings me happiness and doing what I think will help individual humans and humanity as a whole. Life has become somewhat of an experiment for me. I'm not afraid of messing up anymore. I'm not worried about being on the right path.
Instead, I try to be happy. I try to be me. And I try to let/help others do the same thing.
Cheers, bitches.
I am perpetually amazed about how drastically my life is different now, and even more so how drastically different my beliefs (and consequently political views) are since rejecting Mormonism and becoming an atheist.
ReplyDeleteFunny how we both blogged about this today.
Loved your "How it affects my life" segment. I feel the same way. I'm having fun trying new things and doing what I feel is right for me. There's none of the constant guilt and self-deprecation from feeling like I'm not good enough or doing enough. I feel very free.
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