Equality is a lie...

Yes, you read it right.. equality is a lie...
In today's society we are so easily offended and look for any reason to argue with someone about how there opinion is right and how your opinion doesn't matter. We are in a time where really have to think about what we say, so no ones feelings get hurt. I don't think we should be mean and rude to people about what religion they are, what gender of person they like, who their political figures are, and what teams they like (unless they like the Carolina Panthers or The University of Alabama..)
 But we also need to grow up a little and realize that sometimes people are rude, and when they are, there is usually underlying problems that, that person needs help with. Not saying you can say what ever you want and get away with it, but everyone is fighting their own war, and may not show you the battles going on inside them. Along with trying to be nicer to people who are rude, we need to not be victims of everything that is different than what we are used to. We look to be offended by anything that isnt our own opinion and its just sad to see how many silly social media fights are started because of someones beliefs that oppose our own.
Okay, back to the title. No one is equal... lets say I have a friend, and he is my age, around the same height, likes the outdoors, has brown eyes and enjoys watching sports... On paper, we look like we would be the same person, but no, we have so many differences in that he drives a motorcycle and I dont, I love snow boarding and hes never been, he has tattoos and I dont, I am a Mormon and he is atheist. He likes the Raiders and I like the Seahawks. We have so many similarities, but so many differences, and that's makes us good friends.  I dont know when or where we got this idea of how different is dangerous, but it has to stop.  I say Equality is a lie, because not one single person in this world is the same as you. No one can do the things you do, because you are you, and you have strengths that I dont. Especially being a US citizen, I know how diverse we can be as a people, and we all bring something awesome to the table. Who thought that me, a kid that grew up in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, could go to college, and make friends from people from all over the world. We are not equal and thats what makes life so beautiful, we are able to  teach others our skills and in return learn other peoples skills and maybe even learn about new cultures, and make ourselves over all better and more informed people. Not being equal is a great blessing in my life, because we get to experience so many new things... if everyone was equal, then I would have never developed loves for duck hunting, canyoneering, Snow mobiling, Cajun food, crocheting, baseball,napping... you get the point, but because ive had so many unique people in my life, I have been exposed to so many different life styles and have benefited in my life from different people and cultures I have experiences and its made me a better and more open minded person.
So, dont be scared of something that different than you, dont be so close minded that if someone makes a comment that goes against what you say, that you will just fight and not listen to what that person has to say. Some of the best conversations ive ever had, have been discussions with people about what they think of a certain situation, and how they have come to that thought. I love learning about people and their live experiences, everyone has a story to tell and they will tell you and you can learn from each other if you just listen and show that you care about someone that is different than you
Lastly, I think that Equality is a lie, but equal rights, we need more of. I believe that when someone is fighting for a job, that their skin, race, ethnicity or gender should not matter at all. The person who will be the best at the job should get it. To what point does it stop at? sooner or later, the NBA is going to require the starting 5 on every team to have a person of different ethnicity to start, and have a coaching staff that makes so if you have a black head coach who is catholic and straight has to have an assistant who is white, gay and and atheist. (silly, I know, but its getting bad...)
Dont be scared of people that have different views or thoughts than you, and I know I need to work on being nicer to other people, and we all can.

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life. Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home." - LT Rorke
(pics from MLK Weekend)

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club-Jack London

With the new year upon us, I would just like to wish y'all good luck on your New Years resolutions... Even though you probably have broke 6/5 of them already. Anyway, the new year brings so many new opportunities if you are willing to go out and get them. I am writing this, not because I have some generic resolutions that I want to make happen, but to try and make better daily decisions. I'm not saying you shouldn't have resolutions, but we tend to think of ourselves as failures if we do happen to mess them up. Like if your resolution was to eat more healthy, and you "accidentally" ate an entire pizza, because you strive for greatness and why run 1 mile when you can run 2, why eat 3 slices when you can eat the entire thing, why sleep for 8 hours when you can sleep for 10. Always strive to out do your self in all things and that's a 🔑 key to success. 

Okay, back to my point.... Just because you may have slipped a little trying to accomplish your goals, doesn't mean you have to abandon ship and give up. When you are trying to be better and making good choices, the lord knows  and he doesn't care if your goal was to watch less tv and then you find out that season 7 of Parks and rec is now on Netflix. He cares about the over all pictures. He watches us fall and pick ourselves up again, he just wants us to be the best version of ourselves. So if you do happen to mess up a little and sin, he knows that sometimes that will happen.... Obviously he doesn't want us doing those things, but we are human and we sin. That's why one of my goals for this year is to have a better relationship with my Heavenly Father, because I feel so much better about my self and life when I am on a good spiritual track and doing the things I should be doing. Life can be dark and dreary sometimes and nothing might seem to be going your way, but trust me, the lord has so many blessings coming your way. There have been times in my life where I have been bitter towards heavenly for how a few situations have happened. But looking back now, I wouldn't change a thing. Right now I am trying to figure out how I make a living and what I am going to do after college and for a career because I graduate in May.... I don't know for sure what I want to 100% do yet, but I have a good idea, and I'm starting to really realize that when I put my trust in the lord and do the things he's asked if me, that good things happen.  Sure bad things happen along the way, but they are just stepping stones on the trail to greatness. 

Along with a career, another thing that seems to always be on my mind is how I'm going to somehow find a woman that's going to be willing to put up with me and my crazy self for eternity. Embarrassingly enough, I actually think about marriage quite a bit, and I don't feel like I am at all ready to be a husband and provider. I'm starting to realize that the problem I am having, is that I seem to be looking for the perfect woman, even though I am not the perfect man. I am expecting to find some gorgeous, rad, outdoorsy, sporty, spiritual dream boat but I am not trying to be the best I can be. Ergo, the lesson I have learned with woman and dating, is to get the person of your dreams, you better start trying to make yourself the person of someone's dreams.  The lord helps those who help themselves and when you are ready for that perfect person for you and you are doing all the things you should, the lord sees that you are ready, he will make things happen. 

I guess to kinda close this up, I would just like to remind you to not give up on your goals just because you mess up a little, don't give up on dating because you've had bad relationships or dates in the past. And I encourage you to be the best you that you can be. I am trying to be the best that I can be, and yes I mess up sometimes, but the lord knows I am trying to be better in many aspects of my life and I can truly tell that he blesses me for it.... Sometimes in opportunities, sometimes just having the spirit comfort you in times of need. 

The Woman who loved the Mountian.

       In our modern society, we are growing further and further away from our roots and the natural world and in this story, one woman finds her self understanding nature in a much more personal way than she could have ever imagined.


      *beep beep beep*  alarm goes off sounding the a start to a new day, Briar Belle turns off the alarm and gets ready to head to class at the local community college and after class, straight to work, where she works at a small country diner as a waitress. The days go on and on and on, and everyday seems to not get any better and the bills, boyfriend problems, troubles with school, on the fringe of getting fired from her job because the diner isn't doing well and not to mention, her father been bedridden for months because of multiple illnesses who just passed only just a few months ago. Every night she fantasizes about leaving everything behind, exploring and having adventures where she is in control of everything. With just weeks of the semester left,  she decides that she will tough it out and just finish strong with classes and work. Finals happen, and she gets her results and to her surprise, ended up having some of the best grades in her classes. To celebrate, Briar decides she is finally going to take that trip that she had been longing for, a trip with no deadlines, no itinerary and no destination and would just go where the wind took her. She packs her bags and heads westbound and hits all of the major state and national parks the west has to offer. Along the way, she meets others that are kind of doing the same thing. Briar and her new group of friends spend a few weeks together just hanging out and seeing all the sites they can, but after so long, Briar decides she's going to continue her solo journey and keep seeing as much of the world as possible, again she packs up and leaves her new friends behind. Along the way, she talks to different people about what she should do and the things she should see. The people she talked to, always seemed to mention the cascades in Washington, so she decided she would visit this place that so many people had told her about along the way. Briar gets to the Cascade region and when she gets there, she gets this weird feeling of how she will figure out her life and all the missing parts in her life will come together. Before she starts to go out and just start hiking around, she stops by a little convince store/ diner th at reminded her of the one she worked at. While getting food, drinks, snacks and maps, she asks the old lady at the register, what she should do and where she should go while being there. The old lady tells Briar about a super remote and difficult place to get to place called Departure Peak that no one returns from, she also tells her about some of the lore and legends of the region and particularly about Departure Peak and how it is an ancient Mountain that has an overseer, someone that watches over and protects the mountain because at the top, there is believed to have a  magical stream that has the powers to heal you. But when you drink the water, the Mountain decides if you are worthy enough to receive its magical healing powers. But if you aren't worthy and or take more water than you need, you will die. If you are worthy enough to you drink it, you have to become part of the mountain and help look over it.
    Briar, now is more determined than ever to reach the top of Departure Peak and try its so called "magical" waters, because if she's not worthy enough to receive the healing powers and she dies, she doesn't really have anything to lose, but if she is worthy enough, then hopefully these waters will help heal her physically and emotionally.  She stops by the store to try to get more info and to tell the old lady goodbye. Briar starts the couple week journey up to Departure Peak, and runs into just about every problem you can have while trekking through remote wilderness. She ends up breaking her glasses, loses the maps, wind catches her water proof jacket and its never to be seen again, boot strings rip and a horde of ravenous Raccoons pillaged her food among some of the problems. While Briar was doubting herself and thinking about quitting the journey and heading back down the mountain, she thought of all the times her father had taken her outside exploring when she was a little girl, she remembered her dad always talking about how if you are good to Nature and have a good heart, that nature will be good to you in return.  He also talked about how mountains have feelings and that you could have a relationship with the Mountains. Briar had always thought her dad to be a little bit crazy in that regard, but ever since he had passed away, and she had been trying to find herself, she found that her father wasn't as crazy as she thought for so many years. With new determination to finish what she had started and to make it to the top of Departure and try the mythical healing waters, also thought she would try to spend more time taking care of Mother Earth, since she never had a Mother figure in her life, she decided that her real mom was mother nature and she would head to her fathers advice and starts to have a relationship with the wild. Briar, having fixed some problems from before and with a new attitude, was making really good time up to the Peak, and reckoned she was about 5 days front the Magical Waters and while she was hiking, she took a stumble and ended up rolling her ankle extremely bad and got some major scrapes and couldn't walk any further. So she  makes camp and sets up for a few days to allow her ankle and wounds to heal, to where she felt comfortable to head back up the Mountain. She finally got tired of sitting around and decided she would test out her ankle, while she did she lost balance and started falling down a little ravine, she was stuck and could not move. Briar had been stuck in this ravine for what seemed like ages, and she knew she was the only person on the Mountain, but decided to yell for help anyways, and yelled for hours and eventually passed out because of the pain and dehydration. When she woke up, she woke up in a hut like thing that was built of granite on the outside and moss on the inside and noticed that her ankle had a splint on it and that this hut looked like someone's home. After being really confused and being scared of how or who brought her there, a very sculpted and chiseled younger looking man peaked his head into the hut and said, "They call me Mountain, I heard you screaming and came to help you."Briar and Mountain spent the next couple days together getting to know each other and letting briar heal. She woke up one day and noticed Mountain was gone and so was the granite shelter they were in, but found her back pack to be heavier than is was before and then she dumped out what was in her bag and found all her gear, but also the gear that she had lost, plus Some more food and other things she didn't bring with her originally. She assumed Mountain had given her, his stuff and was also on his way to the magical waters, so she packed up and headed to the peak to thank him and to try the waters. With the peak In site and just another days push, she would be at the fabled waters, but still Mountain was nowhere to be seen and Briar couldn't find his foot prints. So she pushed on to the Peak and she could now see the mythical spring that the old lady talked about, and stops to get some of the water, and then Mountain comes out of nowhere and tells her that it is actually magical water and that if she does drink it she would die or join him. Briar says to him, " what do you mean ill join you if you, if I don't die?" he says that one time he drank the water, and that's why they call him Mountain, because he is in fact the mountain. The fabled overseer of the mountain, and that he would disappear, because he can only be in his human form for so long, or  magical spring would in fact die.  So Briar did take the risk  to drink the water, and then she started to feel funny, and Mountain said to her, I've been waiting my whole life for someone as worthy and special as you, so Mountain and Briar from then on took care of Departure Peak together for the rest of their lives.

Gunna hang me in the mornin'

Yes, I realize I haven't been on here in forever, oh well. Today I had the opportunity to explore a bunch more of the southwest I haven't seen before. I went to Modena, a tiny little rail road town, that looks like there isn't a soul that lives there, and besides the few residents, no one would ( duh Austin) When  I visit these old western towns, it always gets my mind running and wishing that I could of been alive during the expansion of the west. For my own salvation, I'm glad I wasn't... heavenly father knew I shouldn't of been alive then, because frankly, I am a bandit of sorts and if I was in a lawless time... who knows how my life would of played out. In western movies, I am always rooting for the Outlaws. The ones who live life like it was their last day on earth ( most days it was..) These outlaws, made (took) money from rich people, traveled the world on their Nobel steed, always seem to get the ladies, and get to play with guns all day, when living the luxurious life you travel via the railroad and you are always dressing up to the 9's even when robbing a train.
Besides Modena and other little towns along the 56, I stopped by  The Mountain Meadows massacre....  a place I've always heard about, and wanted to go to, but never have. What happened there, over those few days, was a major dark time for the Mormon church.. while it would be dumb to guess why the Mormon militia massacred these other pioneers from Arkansas, the only reasonable reason why, is that the Mormon pioneers were very tired of getting mistreated and often times killed because of their religion. So, they decided to be on the offensive and not be pushed around anymore. Again, this is just a assumption, I do not agree with their actions, but I was not in their situation.  This was a terribly unfortunate time, for not only the Mormon religion, but for western expansion.  Just like the old west towns I occasionally visit and wish I was an outlaw, I too wonder if I could have been a pioneer and made the journey across the ocean and across the young country we are so lucky to live in. I always am so grateful for what the pioneers did, they sacrificed themselves so they and future generations could enjoy religious freedom.

" I got so good at the game, no one could tell that I was faking sane."

Sometimes you just have to be mature enough to admit that you are wrong.  I, being very immature, don't know that lesson too well yet. I  can not take someone's word for something, I have to go and find things out for myself. For example, Lets say you ask a close friends opinion on if you should actively try to get to know this girl/ date her. He says no, she's a sketchy hefer that moves on to a new guy every week and just talks to you to get free dinner for that week. I have to ask her out to see if she is really like that, and yeeeep the friend was right. Or you ask someone about going to a particular area of interest and he says, that it is close to impossible to go to and find, unless someone already showed you where it is. I have to try to find those places. Guess you could say that this part of my personality has some good to it, in the way that I'm always questioning what I hear and that I have to find out for myself what I was told. On the other hand, It could save me SO much time, effort, sleep, heartbreak and money if I only was better at listening to what people tell me.
I tell you this, because I've been thinking about the times my parents  try to give me advice on things that they have learned first hand about life and the lessons they've learned from it. But no, I am way, way to stubborn to believe that what happened to my parents would be relevant to me in this day and age, because I know my self better than anyone, so how could anyone else have anything that could help me succeed....  just like a coach of a sports team, everyone has some great personal insight on how to play this crazy game of life that we are all a part of. I need to be better at learning lessons of other peoples mistakes, so that I don't commit the same mistake. Kind of like the whole "those who don't understand history are bound to repeat it."  That's totally me, I can't take someone's word for something I have to go find out for myself. I am only 21 years old and have only temporarily been out of my parents house for about 3 years. So, obviously I have  a great understanding of how to be an adult, how the real world works and how to succeed on my own... NOT... I have some what of a pride issue and think that I can not let anyone know that I am not doing anything but being the most happy person in the universe at all times and that nothing ever goes wrong and everything is always perfect at all times.  Well, that's a lie. I often struggle with a lot of things, that I don't like to tell people about. I guess I'm not just the happy go lucky, class clown person that I try to portray myself as. I get scared of many things, many things that don't make sense to a lot of people, like monkeys, being in cold water, those micro fiber towel type things and wind storms because I can't fathom how wind works..... like its not there, and then its there. Its weird.......
    What I wanted to get to with this post was that  everyone's fighting their own battles, and they might not show you or let you know what's going on, so be nice to people. ALso, I would like to tell my parents how much I love and appreciate them for everything that they do. I take for granted so many things my parents help me with, because I have to prove to myself that I am worth something and that I can be independent and succeed on my own... the truth is, I'm a baby and can't do anything. I don't know why I even try to convince myself that I can do things on my own. I know eventually I will have to take care of my self, but that's why I should find a wife so she can take care of me (that's for you Niki G)
I just know I need to start being a better son, brother, friend and student and things will happen for the better. When things get rough, keep pushing, but you always have help by your side and so many loved ones in your corner there to help you when you need it the most.
Family Forever.
"Tough times don't last, tough people do."- I can't remember....

“Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it.”

              Between listening to Rise Against, watching V for vendetta and law abiding citizen, and my readings for environmental psychology and natural resources, may be causing my rebel, conspirator or even my inner Che Guevara to be brought to light. No I don't believe in over throwing the government or do any crazy, radical terroristic threat to anyone or anywhere. But I do believe that we should be more aware of the world around us. The book I had to read for En Psych, was called "Zeitoun" its about a guy from Syria that through a long course of events, ends up starting a family and a promising construction company in New Orleans. The story plays out like this: (Sorry for spoilers, but oh well im saving you time. unless you do still do want to read it.) The year was 2005, and there have been hurricane warnings for the gulf areas. Zeitoun, doesn't want to leave his house, and the many other properties which he looks over, up to mother nature. So, his family leaves for Baton Rouge, and he decided to ride out the storm in his house, in hope that he can save major damage from happening to his properties. Hurricane Katrina happens.... throughout the actual hurricane, his house did not happen to suffer any major destruction, but the aftermath is where the story really begins. After the storm had run its course, the levees that protect New Orleans from these kind of natural events, collapsed and made an already sketchy New Orleans city into something you might see on a post-apocalyptic video game "Fallout". after the city had been mostly flooded and many areas had been completely consumed by water, there was anarchy that followed. people were robbing, raping, killing, stealing other people for simple supplies like water and food. Others formed gang like operations and would loot people, their houses, the stores for essentials and other goods like, boats, generators and so forth. While this was going on, multiple armed forces teams, police and hired guns from all over the country were send to the remains of NOLA. These were war ready army forces that were going to go to the middle east, to fight our war on terrorism, but were transferred to NOLA to uphold the peace. What went on in the after math of Katrina was horrific. Zeitoun luckily had a old aluminum canoe that he would go around and help people get off their homes roofs, out of their houses and would often times bring supplies to those in need. while canoeing around, he found some old friends who also stayed back during the storm. He and his 3 friends ended up getting arrested  in a swat team like procedure because they were assumed to be looters and terrorists. they were then sent to make shift prisons (that didn't exist) of which were treated very, very badly.

                How much power does our government have over us, what can they do and how much do they hide from us? Granted, I wouldn't want to tell my entire country that wrongs that I have done, how much they are in danger or how to deal with incredibly controversial subjects either. Somethings are good for us to be  oblivious to, it keeps us happy not knowing what all is going around us. But there are certain things that you can not hide from the people. Like the mistreatment of a lot of hurricane Katrina survivors for instance.... aaaaaaand Yucca Mountain. If you don't know what it is, its  70,000 metric ton facility for nuclear waste. Nuclear waste from all over the United States, but mostly the east. Nuclear waste that will take up to 10,000 years to not be detrimental for your health. how exactly are they going to move the waste from the east, to the desert of Nevada..... trucks and trains......
 Transporting waste to Yucca Mountain puts the American public at risk. More than 123 million people live near the proposed truck and train routes which would be used to deliver waste to Yucca Mountain. Those routes travel through 703 counties in 44 states. An accident or attack along those routes could hurt or kill thousands of innocent people.

I don't know if you notice, but the transportation mostly would go through 1-80 and 1-15 to make it to Yucca. The nuclear waste would have to pass through SLC and Cedar. To remove the waste completely,  they would have to send trucks as big as football fields many times for 25-30 years. and what if an accident happened and a truck crashed? that surrounding 30 mile radius would be deemed as " Uninhabitable"

         Again, I'm not saying that we need to over throw our government in hopes of  "new world order"  I do however believe that we need to be a more educated people, know who we are voting for and hold our government more accountable for wrongs that are done and work together to solve and help when it comes to Natural disasters and man made disasters like In Japan, where an earthquake caused a tsunami, running into and destroying a nuclear power plant.

“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”  

The king of silence

With all the recent media attention regarding Robin WIlliams, I feel obligated to talk about what  none of us want to talk about, and that's depression. Depression is very serious and dangerous thing that surrounds us everyday. We are all fighting our own wars inside our heads and hearts, and there are something's that we can't explain through words, but we fight everyday. I don't have depression, but I do have ADHD, and with ADHD, you have other side affects such as dyslexia ( which I have some of)  and sometimes depression. (which is causes because of an imbalance of  chemicals in the brain)  because of that I sometimes have mood swings and have a hard time controlling my emotions. I couldn't actually imagine  having be really Depressed. I know what its like to be in the darkest darks, where it seems like the end of the tunnel will never come and you will never seen the light. With that being said, I would like to challenge anyone reading this, to just over all be a nicer person. We can all be more nice to more people throughout the day. When I do make it a point to say hi to random people at campus or  just being nicer to ,my friends and family I notice a major impact in how my day goes, I'm more optimistic, and look forward to more adventures throughout the day.
I'm no where near where I would like to be when it comes to being a good person. I still am very selfish and often times see the negative in most every situation, but I'm trying my best to be the best friend, son, brother and person I can be.
     Along with depression, we also need to be better listeners to our close ones problems, as small as the problem may be, it always feels so good to be able to discuss your day with your trusted friend
  To conclude, ill leave this to you, be a better friend and listener, its okay to be sad, its completely normal., but don't let it ruin your life. Look for the good in life, because it has so much to offer. Don't be a bully, speak up and say how you feel, don't let people push you around.


"Cause no one is born the King Of Silence
So choose your voice
So speak up, don't back down
Don't wear that crown
Let your voice scream out!
Born the King Of Silence." - We came as romans