“I had spent a lot of time figuring out who I was, shaping myself, creating an identity and I thought that identity was something inside of me that I projected outward and when I was suddenly in a world in which nobody knew me and nobody understood me and all those things, I started to realize that who we are is actually reflected back to us by the people around us, by people who love us.

“You are suddenly in a world where nobody understands why you’re there or what you’re doing or who you are - you suddenly start to ask the same questions.

“So I was basically widdled down to nothing.  I felt like I had no self.  The beauty of that – there’s a lesson there, right?  There’s this lesson – that our connections matter, that how we treat others matters, that it affects their identity directly.  And there’s another lesson there as well.  As I lost myself, I actually found myself broken down to a point where I could learn faster than I’ve ever learned in my life."

-Michael Wesch

The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever

BYU Speeches

"Some people I’ve encountered seem to believe that we are here to prove to God, to everyone around us, and even to ourselves just how perfect we are—that we can and do live all of the gospel principles to their fullest, right from the start, never faltering!

"There is danger in such a prideful perspective. Such a view may make us reluctant to admit our mistakes. When inevitably we do fall short, it becomes difficult for us to square our life view with the fact that we have weaknesses and have committed sin. It makes it hard for us to see clearly and acknowledge just where we are on the path of progress. It leads us to harshly judge and condemn ourselves and at the same time rationalize how and why our actions really don’t disqualify us. It can lead us to try to hide our sins, which serves only to shade them from healing light. It can lead us to judge others harshly, crowding out the ability to develop the crowning virtue of charity.

"Perhaps instead the Lord expects that we acknowledge that we are weak, that we have much to learn through the experiences we have, and that we make mistakes, and then prove to Him that we will repent and put our whole heart into doing better. That we are here to humbly learn and grow and to make changes and turn to Him as we go is a liberating truth."

Douglas F. Prawitt

BYU Devotional, Line Upon Line:  Finding Joy in the Progress, July 19, 2011