Many know that I'm a practicing member of the LDS faith. I'm not the kind of person to ram or force my faith on anyone, so you typically do not see me posting about it. This post is a rare exception.

Between 2018-2020, I spiraled into a deep and dark depression--one which I literally almost did not survive. Several traumatic events happened in both personal and professional lives.

I learned through my recovery in starting March 2020 that sleep is crucial to my mental health. I live with insomnia and take a prescription medication (Seroquel) to force me to sleep. I have to take it by 7pm to be asleep by 10pm.

I have issues with my left middle ear--ones I still need to address. We moved three years ago from Maryland to Colorado. Pretty much sea level to over a mile up in altitude. My body is not adjusting well given both the medications I'm on and my auditory/balance/vertigo issues.

(Religious discussion next):

I teach an opt-in religious class of high school kids at 5:45am on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

This means I need to adjust my sleep med to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

There is a freakton on my plate right now in my personal life. We're making a lot of changes, and my focus is on my aging dog Vader.

Things have been falling off my plate. I feel overwhelmed and burned out. I cannot be the teacher these kids need. So I've asked to be released as what we call a "seminary teacher."

Members of our faith typically have an unwritten understanding of serving in the calling (the volunteered position) until normally released by the "clergy." There's a lot of stigma surrounding asking to be released early.

I love these kids. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have served. But I cannot risk going back to the mental state of 2018. My attention is so divided these days that I need to scale back. I need to put my own metaphorical oxygen mask on before I can help others.

Tomorrow morning is my last session with them. I'm having a really hard time accepting this.

Two #BSDCan 2026 presentations I'm looking forward to watching:

(I'm looking forward to the other presentations, but especially those two.)

I'm unsure whether the conference will be streamed this year, so if anyone knows, please inform me. :-)