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She was twenty-six years old. I didn’t know her. I came across her comment while I was doom scrolling through narcissistic abuse content on social media one evening. And yes, that’s what I do for fun. Somewhere in the conversation, she said she was afraid to leave the relationship she was in, because it was…
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Booking a hotel shouldn’t make your hands sweat. Why emotional abuse teaches you to distrust your own judgment long after it ends — and five ways to start trusting yourself again.
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You brought up something that hurt you. Somehow you ended up apologizing. There’s a name for that flip — and a way to stop it.
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Denial was Part 1. This is what happens when they don’t just deny — they rewrite the whole story, and expect you to move in.
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Gaslighting isn’t one lie. It’s a pattern, repeated until doubting yourself becomes your default. Here’s where recovery actually starts.
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What a hijacked Italian vacation taught me about boundaries — and the difference between being easygoing and being a people-pleaser.
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A story about what a pet brings to your life and what they take when they leave. She was the last thing we all loved at the same time. It’s hard to explain exactly what she meant to us but I’ll try. After several years of moving around from rental house to rental, just trying…
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I felt safer on a motorcycle with my husband than I did in many other parts of our life. Sometimes it’s hard to put into words what you give up in a divorce. There are tangible things like homes, towns, people, bank accounts. Then there are intangible things like lifestyles, identities, communities, traditions. But I…
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Did you know that a butterfly can have 70% of its wings damaged and still fly? Even that broken it can flit and fly and soar on the breeze. Now that is my spirit animal — or bug, whatever. I looked at myself in the bathroom vanity and I barely recognized myself. My eyes weren’t blue anymore, but gray.…
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My first memory of having real compassion came early in my life. A time when walking into the Long John Silvers, at age eight, was a thrilling experience. Not because of the smell of fish and french fries frying in vats of grease, or the staff members in their pirate uniforms. Not even because of…
