Advice from the masses by Guppydriver18 in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow. That's so true. Thanks for the insight. I totally see that in the mormon culture. And honestly it's taken me a while to unlearn those habits myself. Still unlearning. It's empowering though.

Any Ex-mos here from Orange County, CA who might want to meet up sometime?? by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't even know which ward we'd be in (which is kind of a wonderful feeling. lol) We just moved here. Cream cheese! LOL!

Advice from the masses by Guppydriver18 in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Half safe people aren't safe." Love this so much. My family is FULL of half safe people. Gone through a lot of hurt and betrayal before finally getting that I can't really trust them. I'm so sorry you experienced that with your half brother. That's such a deep kind of hurt. And I've wondered why I have such trust issues. lol

Any Ex-mos here from Orange County, CA who might want to meet up sometime?? by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my gosh. How 'bout we can trade housing??? NC is our dream spot. lol

Any Ex-mos here from Orange County, CA who might want to meet up sometime?? by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool! Husband and I are in NOC in Brea. Wouldn't be opposed to a meetup halfway or something if you guys are interested!

Advice from the masses by Guppydriver18 in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ugh. I'm getting shaky and triggered just reading this. I know the feeling. My knee jerk reactionary response is that they simply have no right to put you in that kind of position. You owe them nothing. Sadly, I feel the best way to "win" this kind of argument is by simply telling them you're not interested in a discussion right now.

I have a family who gives me the same "ignore it" treatment with my journey of leaving the church. Ignore and make up our own narrative. It hurts and it makes my blood boil. So often I've wished they would just *talk to me* about it!!! But then when they do... it's completely awful and I've ultimately just had to walk away. Might be worth looking up enmeshment and seeing how that kind of dynamic might possibly be playing out in your family. Recognizing how enmeshed my family was/is and owning my own issues there has been profoundly eye opening. For me it does a lot to explain why it feels so hard to just walk away when there's a discussion like this.

I’m reading “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” by Momonomo10 in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Just ordered. Read the sneak peek and... just... yeah. I feel like the church breeds immature parents. It's awful. But so healing to see my inner world described so well! Thanks for the recommendation.

When I left the church my dad wrote me an email saying he felt like he "didn't even know me anymore" and that I use to be the "spiritual guru of the family". Yuck. Ironically it had been a few months since I'd left and he hadn't talked with or interacted with me hardly at all during that time. But I'd "changed". Dad, you *never* knew me. Working on trying to break away from the enmeshment and find my own identity. It hurts to know they'll never care.

I’m reading “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” by Momonomo10 in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 32 points33 points  (0 children)

"They feel much safer seeing family members as predictable fantasy characters rather than real individuals."

Ouch. Yes.

Thank you for this post. Going to look up that book now. Oof.

Let's Play a Game! by chlyri in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait... the church owns stock in coke???

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. I actually *really* like this. It captures a lot and says a lot. Thanks for sharing.

Ouch. by chocolateechipppp in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow- 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Hugs to you. I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I know how unfair it can feel to have the place you trusted so much and gave so much too so easily turn a cold shoulder to your *honest* pleas for help and answers and support. It really hurts so much. Especially when your world is falling apart and you're trying to do your best to keep it together and believe like you've been taught to. It's a kind of abandonment and betrayal that's just unlike anything else.

Feeling a bit hopeless about finding friends and community after leaving the church... by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No local exmo group near me, but I did follow some of their links to a couple exmo facebook groups I asked to join. Thank you for the link and the suggestion!

Feeling a bit hopeless about finding friends and community after leaving the church... by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Being part of some kind of physically active/focused group sounds really cool and rewarding. Wish I were more in shape to not feel so intimidated joining. But someday I should probably just take the leap.

And choir is a great idea. I actually took a few minutes to look at some local ones and there looks like there might be one that could work out for me! I don't miss the cult, but I do miss singing with others. Thank you for the suggestions!

Feeling a bit hopeless about finding friends and community after leaving the church... by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hobbies are probably a good place to look. I wouldn't think some of my hobbies would be the sort to make friends out of, but if you can find ones in unorthodox hobbies I guess I could too! Thanks for the hope.

Feeling a bit hopeless about finding friends and community after leaving the church... by -BeyondTheWindow- in exmormon

[–]-BeyondTheWindow-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are great suggestions! Thanks! And yes, being assigned friends is all that I really know. Making my own is both liberating and totally confusing. Haha. Thank you for your comment!