Damn you, Doug Fabrizio! (and Happy Birthday)

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been downloading the daily broadcast of Radio West with Doug Fabrizio. I love that man, but he frustrates me. He does these programs that are fascinating and stimulating on so many different levels and they often revolve around a book. I’m left wanting to read the book and suddenly I have a stack of books by my bed that will probably take me several years to get through. Also, there’s another certain someone in SLC and whose name also begins with D who is also causing that pile of books to grow. I’m done paying attention to anyone from SLC whose name begins with D. :)

So yesterday and today I listened to an interview that Doug did with David Schenk (again with the D’s) who wrote a book called, “The Genius in All of Us”. The basic idea is that in the past and to some extent still today, we’ve looked at intelligence as a thing that each person possesses a certain amount of. It’s written into your DNA and there’s not much you can do about it. Schenk describes it more as something that is potentially abundant in each of us, but it’s just a matter of learning how to tap into it. He also describes it as a process that is a complex interplay of many different factors including genes, environment, opportunity, work, etc.

The problem is there’s so much in life that blocks and clouds and makes it difficult to tap into our own genius. It doesn’t mean it’s not there though. There’s just so much that distracts us from our own genius and not all that distracts is necessarily inherently bad. For example, I was raised in a very orthodox Mormon home in Sandy, Utah. My parents taught me to be good and to adhere to certain standards. I grew up experiencing discomfort with anyone or anything that was different than I was. Not that my parents taught me that, but if you grow up in an environment where most of the people you associate with adhere to the same belief system and there isn’t a lot of diversity of thought, I think it’s fairly natural to develop a discomfort with anything that is outside of that realm.

The funny thing is, I’m naturally drawn to more open minded, expansive people, people who would have made me very uncomfortable earlier in my life. It’s almost like God built it into me so that I could eventually learn to pull my head out and learn to love myself and start living in a way that is more alive and fulfilling for me. In the meantime though, I was very distracted by my very limited Mormon experience growing up in Utah. I’ve realized how important it is to expose myself to different people and experiences. After I started tip toeing outside of my own limited realm, I discovered people and experiences and schools of thought that have helped me tap into and listen to who I really am. And that is so much more than just cultural Mormonism or homosexuality or a physical body or a career or any other role I could play.

And speaking of listening to who I am, my blog turns one year old today. Thanks to all who read and comment. I’ve been able to meet and associate with new people who have enriched and changed my life in so many beautiful and specific ways. I’ve also been able to interact with existing friends and family who I love, and have been able to cultivate those already existing relationships in many and sometimes unexpected ways.