I have been studying my way out of Mormonism for a year now. I seriously am so sad that I grasped at straws for so long to make sense of it all. I served a mission, met my hubby in a single's ward and married in the temple. The last couple of weeks I read Grant Palmer's: "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins" and the John D. Lee's account (I was sick to realize one of my ancestors named his first son after his stake president William Dame- one of the men Lee accused of being involved in Mountain Meadow). I also finally pierced my nose this weekend after 20 years of being told not to by the church. Imagine my families surprise on Easter Sunday when they saw my nose jewel for the first time ;-) The thing that is really bugging me is that my NOM sister-in-law accused me of being rebellious. Rebellion is something teenagers do, not 37 year old homeschooling moms. I prefer to think of myself as being a non-conformist.

What you said about your SIL....got to LOVE those who will call you out on whatever, but then don't do everything "right" themselves. My older brother has been like that for years. He acks like he is Mr Mormon Man, but doesn't go to class at church, skips when he can and all of that. It's annoying, and I just ignore it now.

And congrats on the nose ring. I have a tattoo, but I want another one...and I can't wait to get it!

It's not rebellion if they hold no power.

Congratulations!
I used to be able to rationalise anything to make it fit into the Morg world view! I can't believe I stayed in so long. Eventually my free spirit liberated me. The tentacles of fear aka brainwashing still try to pull me back, but reality must prevail

It is said that tattoo's and piercings are a form of self harming - which is why some people become addicted to them. Did you get a nose piercing because you thought it made you look better or did you do it to show people they no longer control you? If the latter, perhaps it shows their views and opinions still drive what you do.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2014 08:33AM by Stumbling.

Many things are said. But does that make them true?

I'd love to read a source in this

Is that why people pierce their ears once too? I know plenty of women with pierced ears that aren't addicted to piercings. Women in India also pierce their noses and I think it is beautiful, just as some people think pierced ears are, does that mean they are addicted to piercings too? I guess because it isn't a cultural norm here I must like to hurt myself. That is silly logic and if I liked to hurt myself I would stay in TSCC.

agreed.

I got a tattoo cause I wanted one. I LOVE tattoo's...always have.

Me too. I got a small cross tattooed on my wrist because I'd always wanted a tattoo and I'd always wanted to wear a cross. It was my way of reclaiming my power to make my own decisions about my life and not abdicate it to the church and a bunch of old men out in Salt Lake City. Everything doesn't have to be about making yourself look better. My tattoo is white and no one even notices it's there except me which is exactly how I wanted it. Because I didn't get it for anyone else BUT me.

Brandywine, if you did ANYTHING because you felt it was right for you, then you didn't rebel - you were true to yourself and what you think looks good but most of all, true to your right to make your own decisions and not let other people tell you what to do. I applaud you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2014 10:47AM by CA girl.

Self-harmers! Lol.

That could be said of all of us because I could be tattooed from head to foot and pierced everywhere that's legal and it STILL wouldn't be as harmful as some of the crap Mormonism tattoos on our brains and minds and spirits. I guess we are all recovering self-harmers ... some of us just do it with more style :)

Okay, that's me told.....

Agreed :-)

Yeah my Tattoo is on my chest. I got it there cause it was for me.

My next one will be on my shoulder, moving down the other side of my chest. I can't wait!

LOVE to harm myself :P

I'm sure there's a little bit of rebellion in there. Enjoy! You could make fun of your rebellion, because that's some serious rebellion getting a nose ring. What next? You eat dessert first?

Nope, jay walking will be next ;-)

Consider this about rebelliousness:

The essence of the independent mind is not in knowing what to think but rather how to think.

Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian

I love it!

Welcome to the board!

We "rebellious" homeschooling ex-mo moms must be flocking together here, as I hear the same thing, although I'm more in the "40's" bracket now.

Life is so liberating as an ex-mo. So much more time to focus on your family and yourself instead of dead people and imagined upcoming disasters. So much more time for exploration WITH the kids instead of for other people's kids in the church.

Yup, when I went to my in-laws Mormon church service a few months ago I purposely wore a sleeveless dress, then chickened out and wore a little shrug over it to cover those devil-take-me shoulders. But I did redeem myself and allow the shrug to slip enough times that the family knew there were no G's there!

So you're not alone.

Nice to meet a fellow homeschooling no mo!

but we still had kids at home and I simply couldn't justify spending the money on really high-quality inking. I knew just what I wanted - a highly stylized lotus flower that I found on a tat site. It represented to me the Buddhist style of meditation that I had learned years ago (and still practice) and has done lots of good for me. Exactly one-eighty from the Mo-Church.

But as the unavoidable delay went on, I finally realized that the main reason I wanted the tat was a childish desire to "show THEM that I was my own person now. So THERE!"

The farther you get from Mormonism, impulses like that pass. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. (I still think about that lotus wistfully now and again, but I'm at that age where wrinkles have become undeniable, and there is something unspeakably sad about a wrinkled tattoo.)

Welcome!

I think you'll find that raising kids is much better when you get to decide what to teach them or not.