Out of Oceania: Survivors Share Their Stories

 

A huge part of my journey of healing from my time in a religiously abusive environment has been using my voice to talk about that journey. It’s a unique journey and one that only some people will understand.

Since 2017, I’ve written posts and articles about my experiences and the injustices I witnessed. Hearing directly from victims of cultic environments has been a humbling experience. Those conversations range near the hundreds (at least) of the number of times I’ve talked to survivors one-on-one, and their stories always left an impact on me. They still do. It took so much courage to speak up, to share, to be vulnerable.

I found those very things to be true for me, whether having my own conversations with past members of the group I left (the Independent Fundamental Baptists), sharing my story with someone new that became part of my safe circles post-cult, writing this blog or having articles published on the topic. Saying out loud to another person, “I survived a cult” is difficult. But in my case, I’m thankful to have done so. Through sharing my story and speaking up, I’ve been fortunate to connect with such amazing souls out there.

After 2 years of this blog only being about my experiences, I had the idea hit me to open my safe space for other survivors to share their own experiences. I had thought about this project for some time, and now, am making that idea a reality. As always, I will continue to share blog posts regularly on All Things Cult related, but I’m very excited to start this new chapter in Once Upon A Time in My Oceania. To celebrate this, I’m naming this project Out of Oceania. It’s a safe space solely reserved for survivors of religious abuse to share whatever experiences they would like about their time in their own Oceanias.

My hope is that this project will be a part of their own journeys, and by sharing their own words, those words will help others. While this has been my own personal blog for some time, I look forward to supporting survivors by allowing readers to “hear” another voice besides my own. By sharing our voices together, we become a mighty echo.

I know how impactful that echo can be. It was that echo that offered support to me on my journey of learning to heal after experiencing religious abuse. 

Here’s to more support for survivors of every stripe.


Survivors' Stories:

On Grieving and Leaving a Cult: Survivor Laura

My Pain Mattered: Survivor Kara

Finding My Voice: Survivor Noelle

Here Are 5 Ways I Help My Mental Health: Anonymous Survivor

Reclaiming A Lost Childhood: Noelle Myers

How Purity Culture Warps Our Self Value: Survivor Ida

Purity Culture Insults Men, Too: Laurie Penoyer-Phillips


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