introduction

Hi. My name is from the ashes, and I’m an ex-Mormon. Of course, from the ashes is not really my name, my parents weren’t hippies. But let’s stick with that for now.

The name evokes a phoenix, rising from the ashes. I don’t want to put on any airs with the connection to a phoenix, which is beautiful, mythical, and has amazing powers. I’m not trying to label myself as such. But I feel the metaphor of my old life burning up, going up in flames, leaving nothing but a pile of gray ashes—that fits me.

But I won’t leave the metaphor there. I’m not a hopeless wreck, a burned out nothing. My new life is emerging. I’m figuring out who I am, what I want, what I believe, and where my ideals, morals, and values lie. It’s been scary, amazing, empowering, heartbreaking, and thrilling all at once.

I’ve had highs and lows over the past few years as I’ve made my exit from my former Mormon paradigm, but overall, it is most definitely a positive change for me. The burning and the ashes, the anger, the sense of betrayal, the sadness, were a necessary process before my new self could be born.

And here I am.

This is my story.