Wannabe Balanced | Mormon Enlightenment | Post LDS
Summary: This podcast started out as a self help podcast for moms trying to find balance in motherhood and business but morphed into a documentation of Crystal and Sean Escobar's journey out of the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). The Podcast has been therapeutic on so many levels for its hosts. They vulnerably share their pitfalls and triumphs as they work to deconstruct a lifetime of indoctrination from the LDS church which they exited in the Spring of 2018. Sexual shame, marriage, parenting, science, spirituality, personal development, healing, sex abuse, are some of the topics they focus on. Together, the Escobars founded the Mormon Enlightenment community on Facebook which they started in August of 2018. One year later there was 3500 members. Participating in the community has proven to be the silver lining to an otherwise traumatic experience. Mormon Enlightement is also comprised of an Instagram page, and YouTube channel. They feel passionate about doing their part among many amazing pioneers like John Dehlin, who featured them on Mormon Stories Podcast. Their goal around all of this is to normalize leaving the church, and to make it safe and acceptable for their children to be non-Mormon in a predominantly Mormon world. Crystal and Sean Escobar are down to earth people who grew up in the heart of Mormonism in the Salt Lake Valley. They were married in 2004 and have 4 children. In 2007, they became the youngest millionaires in Isagenix, an international health and wellness company. Having achieved unparalleled success in their industry, they were able to retire at the age of 35. Since 2011 they have divided their time between living half the year in Salt Lake and the other half in Saint George. Crystal’s family is pioneer stock. She served a mission to Germany in 2002. What is curious is that as of 2019, the majority of her side of the family, which is quite large, is out of the Church. Crystal is the founder of the Wannabe Balanced brand, which has presence on all social media platforms, as well as an ongoing podcast, a Blog and periodic Live Events. She is also a published author of the book “My Life as a WannaBeBalanced Mom” and has been featured on many local news media stations. Sean’s parents were both first generation converts. Sean’s family, much smaller in comparison, are all still very active and believing. In February of 2018 Sean published a recording between him and the man who had sexually abused him as a child in 1993. That same year the abuse took place, Sean’s perpetrator was offered employment at BYU and stayed on as a Professor of Film for 6 years immediately thereafter. That man enjoyed a prestigious professional career as an LDS Film maker and was also the Director of the most recent Temple Endowment Videos. Those videos were hastily abandoned by the Church one month prior to the story breaking. The 25 year old abuser story went viral and was featured on the cover of the New York Times. Another victim, a child, came forward and the perpetrator was sentenced to 6 years to life in prison in the summer of 2019. Sean has become a powerful advocate for stoping child sexual abuse by giving victims the courage to come forward.
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What is the purpose of life? To pass the test? To overcome the natural man? To serve others? To multiply and replenish the
We felt a lot of pressure growing up in the Mormon church. In this episode we share some of the pressures we felt, as well as other former members who submitted their feedback around this topic.
Since trying to be open minded around sexuality after leaving Mormonism, I found myself questioning marriage in general. Wondering for a moment if monogamy was just another tradition we absorbed through religion, social pressures, insecurities, co-dependency, and fear of being alone. In this episode I share some of my discoveries and how I'm feeling about marriage now.
Have you ever been hurt by someone? Been rejected, turned down, left out, judged, misunderstood, or mistreated? Of course you have. We ALL have. I want to tell you about a recent experience I had that triggered a lot of anger and resentment in me. About the thoughts I chose to believe about myself and how I turned them around.
Everything outside of us is a reflection of our own thinking. So many of us, including myself, are giving our power away. Anytime we allow a negative comment, response, or reaction from others to upset us, we are choosing to believe a STORY, therefore causing our own suffering. Whenever we are suffering, that is our signal to STOP! Take a look at the beliefs we have attached ourselves to and evaluate whether or not those beliefs are useful.
We had a few drinks and decided to record a podcast. You're welcome!
Here is part two of our marriage counseling session with Natasha Helfer Parker. We share some of our pitfalls since we've been able to discuss openly about pornography.
As we’ve embarked on this spiritual journey outside of organized religion, we’ve encountered quite a few bumps in the road. It’s to be expected as we work to detangle all the cultural beliefs embedded in every aspect of our relationship. We are working through them one by one, and with careful examination deciding what we want to keep and what we want to discard.
My interview with Morgan and Jared Higdon. After years of issues stacking up on Morgan's 'shelf', it suddenly came crashing down. Morgan and her husband Jared (a.k.a. Sister Jensen) started a YouTube channel called, "My Spiritual Life". In their vlogs and humorous skits, they share their perspective and problems during their transition out of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).
Emotions are just energy and all energy can be transformed. Today Sean and I talk about our anger. How we've been learning to channel that powerful energy into a constructive purpose. Why we left the church and still almost a year and a half later, "can't leave it alone". "Use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it." ~ Maya Angelou
Amy Logan went through her faith crisis in 2006 and has since then become a cerified life coach and has now made it her life's work to help others navigate this path. She loves helping other's find their new voice and being able to be a witness the process as her clients grow and expand.
Being consistent and persistent in your pursuits over a long period of time will reap beautiful rewards. Determination to stick with something will eventually turn it into a habit which then requires less discipline to get yourself to do it. It becomes so much a part of your routine that you no longer deal with the internal war of deciding whether or not you are going to do it.
For those moments you feel lost, alone, depressed and scared. I want this episode to be one you can return to anytime you are triggered. One you can share with others who are fresh out and going through the most intense part of a faith transition, which in most cases, escalates into an existential crisis.
There is beauty in simplicity! We all deal with overwhelm from time to time. But guess what?! Feeling overwhelmed is a CHOICE! Let me share about my recent encounter with overwhelm, what I learned, and my plan moving forward.
"Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness, will we discover the infinite power of our light." ~ Brene Brown This time last year is when I chose to take that leap into the “darkness”. On the podcast today I’m going to give a recap of what this year has been like since choosing to leave my life long religion. It all began with episode 15. I had no idea what was about to unfold. This year has been the most challenging and the most beautiful year of my life.
