Struggle of the daily "chew" - an article about how sometimes completely normal and even non-controversial things can drive others up the wall, and how we should be accepting, regardless.

I hate the sound of chewing food.

It doesn't matter who you are, what you are eating, or how much I generally like you - if you are eating next to me and there is not enough sound to drown it out, I'm probably going to get this look in my eye - the one that says "Please, get out of my sight. Now."

This is a daily struggle that I, and many others, deal with (I support and promote FCIA - the "Food Chewing is Annoying" group) - but for all intents and purposes, it is one that does not make a lot of sense.

"Logically" speaking - chewing food is a normal and everyday occurrence. It is something we all do - regardless of age, gender, race, or sexual preference - and it is something we cannot avoid.

So why does it bother me?

I don't know.

There are other things in life that I am uncomfortable with - things for which, unlike chewing, I have much more "logical" and even evidence based proof in defense for.

But being able to defend my beliefs does not make them any more important or "logical" than the beliefs of another. More importantly, it does not give me liberty or license to hate on any points of view that are contrary to my own.

Discrimination and abuse should never be tolerated under any circumstances - ever.

Hate is still hate, no matter what platform you hide it behind.

Now, that being said: I am a Mormon - a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - and as such, my personal beliefs, opinions, and ways of living life are often going to clash with yours.

Clashing of ideals is 100% normal, and 100% fine.

If we agreed on everything - Trump wouldn't be running for president.

But there is a big difference between having opposing points of view and promoting hate.

Here are some examples of things that I find wrong - or even just annoying - in life:

The sound of eating food

Smoking

High school dating

The consumption of alcohol

Sex before marriage

Not reading Harry Potter

The existence of scorpions in any way shape or form.

There are, of course, many other things on my list - like calling your spouse "baby," or getting a pet rat - but I'll stick with these ones as my examples for now.

Now, here are some examples of me turning those view points into a promotion of hate:

No one is allowed to eat - ever.

No one is allowed to smoke - ever.

No one is allowed to date in high school - ever.

No one is allowed to consume alcohol - ever.

No one is allowed to have sex before marriage - ever.

No one is allowed to not read Harry Potter - ever.

No one is allowed to be a scorpion - ever.

Perhaps some of those seem "logical" to you - like the reading Harry Potter one (because seriously people, BEST BOOKS EVER. READ THEM)
- but that does not mean we should go down the street telling everyone who does not think the books are worth their time that they are horrible people and we don't want anything to do with them!



I am friends with plenty of people who have never and will never read those books.

I am friends with plenty of people who smoke, drink, and live with their girlfriends or boyfriends.

I am certainly friends with people who eat.

(I don't think I am friends with anyone who likes scorpions, though...they seem to be a universally hated creature - just saying...)

So I guess all I'm trying to say with this blog post today is - I hope you can all still love me, even though I hate the way you chew.

Waiting Out the Storm

During every storm there is a single point of breaking - when ferocity pushes past containment and into the realms of unmanageable chaos. During every life, these "breaking points" happen far more often than once, but are seldom acknowledged for what they really are: like the storm - a natural, albeit undesirable, occurrence.

Winds crash against shore, waves flood the skies, and lightning cracks against trees: in these moments we are often rendered useless - buried in the ground, unable to pick ourselves back up - regardless of the otherwise fortunate circumstances that surround us.

Often, these "storms" come in disguise. They hide in the shadows of the sun: obscure their presence in the ashes of commonality. Sometimes, they can even drive us to feelings of shame or guilt. We see our happy lives and we begin to wonder if these words are true:

“It’s all in your head.”

“Snap out of it!"

"You'll get over it soon."

In such moments, we often lose the fight. We’ve given up saying "no" to that empty pounding inside. 

We've allowed the rain to soak our bones, until we are numb to the tempest that surrounds us; until we are oblivious to the reality before our eyes - the knowledge that these “breaking points” can carry even the strongest of trees with the deepest of roots plummeting down upon a desolate earth.

Sometimes there is no clarity to be found in our defeat: we do not know why we have fallen. Perhaps there were no warning winds, no forecasts of rains – and perhaps we find that we seem to be the only ones experiencing the tumultuous storm – but of this much I am certain: no matter the storm, there is no weakness in such a submission.

You are not insane because you feel the pressure of a storm that does not seem to be pressuring others. You are not broken for falling to a wind that has not pushed down everyone else. I promise you, the winds are real, “the tempest is raging,” and you are not alone.

Storms come, and storms go – but they are there all the same. They can incapacitate us for a while – nobody can protect you from the reality of that – but just as everyone is capable of falling, so too are we capable of getting back up.

I’m reminded of a poem by Tolkien:

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

May those who are poor, lost, withered, and cold find strength in the knowledge that they are not alone; they stand, rather, amidst the finest the world has to offer – men and women who have, themselves, risen from the depths and the ashes of human life, to inherit their birthright as rulers of the infinite heavens above.

We are all refugees in this storm.