Introduction

Introduction

Why does it always seem the more you put into preparation for any specific thing the more likely you are not to be prepared for it when it comes? That’s how I feel about today. I try and think through the day to figure out if it’s something that happened to start a downward spiral, or if it’s just the way I am today. But the point remains, that no amount of preparation has prepared me.

So just like all the talks I had to give as a good Mormon boy, and missionary for the church, I’ll end up going in the direction the wind takes me, and not look twice at my notes.

So on that note, let me introduce you to The Wizard of Fozz. It’s more than just a person, it’s a persona. For those who don’t know me, I love the Wizard of Oz and I love Fozzie bear. It was only a matter of time until someone penned the name Wizard of Fozz as my alter ego. For those loyal readers who have been with me the past couple of years, this is a continuation of the blog I started with, almost 4 years ago. For those just joining us, let me bring you up to speed.

I love life. I’m a bit afraid of it too. Why afraid you ask? Have you taken a look around lately? Try it. Sit somewhere for 10-15 minutes and just look. There’s a lot to love, and a lot to fear. Not the kind of fear the keeps you hiding in your closet too afraid of what’s on the other side, but the kind of fear that motivates and inspires. I was afraid to go white water rafting 15 years ago. I also weighed somewhere around 350 lbs, had spent my life a good Mormon boy quietly suppressing my creativity and true self, not having learned yet that I could stand up for, and even so much as speak for, myself. It was a motivational fear, because that’s the day in my life where I learned the concept of sink or swim. I’m sure most of you are now picturing my 350 pound Mormon self falling off the raft and having to swim or else sink, but that would be way too easy for this to be metaphoric in any way. I learned it that day, and stuffed it away with the extra 150 lbs I didn’t really need.

A few years later I put the concept of sink or swim to the test, without knowing it. My 20’s was a decade of going at full speed, constantly lost in my own thoughts, but never thinking about the right thing. I rebelled a lot in my 20’s. The things I didn’t do as a teenager I made up for after College. I don’t regret any of it. Are there things I would do differently with the knowledge of an almost 36 year old man? Yes, because I can look back now and understand why I did certain things, and what I could have done to stop other things.

But if I were able to go back and fix those things, the person before you would be a different person completely. And then the circle would be incomplete, and the whole idea of having the knowledge I have now would be useless. To do it over differently would change the knowledge I have now. So to sum this up for my slower readers, to do things differently then because of the knowledge I have now would cause me to not have the knowledge I have now. And then all of this would be pointless.

So stick around, and join me as I re-experience some of those moments and happenings that brought me to where I am today. Together we’ll explore how where I am today is leading me to where I plan to be tomorrow. We’ll enjoy some of those haphazard moments handed to me by life that are just meant to be shared. I can’t promise answers to the world’s big questions, but I can promise you’ll be entertained for a few minutes here and there.