I'm honored that my dear friend, fellow cult-buster, event organizer and all-around wonderful person, Gerette Buglion, invited me to participate in this writing symposium. I am excited to join Shelly Snow Pordea, author of The Cheating Wife, Dan Shaw, author of Traumatic Narcissism, and Sarah Edmondson, author of Scarred. Each of us will share how writing was key to recovery from our respective surreal and confusing culty misadventures.
So many questions followed my exit from the little mom & pop cult called “school”: How did I fall for this? Why did it make sense to me? Why did I dismiss my doubts? How did I come to trust devious, self-serving people? How did I start gaslighting myself?
“School’s” betrayal trauma left behind a myriad of invisible scars. Cult leaders hijack human nature and best intentions for selfish gain. They leverage the false presentation of “altruistic missions” to attract people motivated to contribute to human betterment. Cultic Studies scholar Michael Langone eloquently refers to this behavior as “evil posing as good.”
My recovery required accepting that I’d been hoodwinked and indoctrinated. Once I recognized that my “schooling” had been “evolving” me into a deployable font of crazy cult talk, much of which I personally found morally offensive, I got to taking back my authentic voice to recover my authentic self. Writing in varying forms—blog posts, songs, and the book—was my recovery.
In recovering my authentic Jewish snark, hell, it was even fun at times! It continues to be fun
Here’s some fun that I had at the expense of The Twin Flames Cult.
I can’t wait to join my fellow cult busters to encourage you to self-empower through this readily available medium. For me, writing turned confusion into clarity and clarity led me from a rattled and unraveling human to a calm and confident adult on a mission.
I’d love for you to join us and hear how writing and creativity can do the same for you.
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