User:Jaromsmith

I hope I'm doing this correctly. If I understand how things work around here, this is my user page and I can use it to say pretty much whatever I want, as long as it's not disrespectful or profane. Or perhaps even if it is! :-) I guess if I screw up too badly, someone will let me know...

I like Wikipedia! I went through a phase at first where I was spending inordinate amounts of time editing/contributing to certain articles (mostly Mormon-related) on Wikipedia, but it got to be too much of a time demand for me. If I am ever fabulously wealthy with nothing better to do in my life (hah!), then maybe I will start spending more time editing Wikipedia articles. A person could get lost in this, literally. Amazingly, some of my edits from a year or so ago are still on several of the pages I edited. I guess that counts for something.

As of this writing I am 36 years old and I live in the San Diego, CA area. I am very happily married to my 2nd wife of 3+ years. We have one child, a daughter, together. I also have two children from my previous marriage -- a daughter and a son. I work for a small privately-held software company which you've probably never heard of, and I also do real estate on the side for fun. I was born and raised LDS (Mormon) and served a mission for the LDS church in Chile (1989-1991), which is where I met my first wife. The relationship was tempestuous (to say the least) and ultimately ended in divorce, but because of it I learned a lot about myself and also about life in general, and to that extent I am thankful for the experience.

In 2003 I began to seriously investigate the truth claims of the LDS church, not from a perspective of faith but from a perspective of skepticism. In short, I applied the same critical rational thinking facilities that have served me so well in my professional life to my religious beliefs. Under the scrutiny of critical inquiry and with the aid and vast resources of the Internet, I came to realize that many of the things which I had believed and cherished as true were simply not so. As a result, I resigned my membership in the LDS church in November of 2005, and I haven't looked back since.

As I approach 40 I find myself asking "big picture" types of questions. Am I happy? Do I live an effective life? What do I need to change about myself in order to become a better person? If I were to die now, would I consider my life to have been a success? As to this last question, I think I can honestly answer, "Yes!". My life so far certainly hasn't turned out the way I thought it would, and I haven't achieved everything that I would have hoped to achieve, but overall I have to say that I'm pretty satisfied. I am happy with the experiences that I have had, and the lives that I have touched, and I am thankful to have been a part of this fascinating world with all its complexities, ambiguities, and inconsistencies. Ironically, although it's the twists and turns in life which seem to give us the most trauma and angst, it is precisely those twists and turns which strengthen within us our character and make us the people that we are today.

May you enjoy your twists and turns, as I attempt to do mine.

Jarom Smith 06:57, 10 April 2007 (UTC)