I grew up going to Kingdom Halls, knocking on doors, and believing we had “the truth.” At eighteen, I left. That meant questioning things I’d been taught my whole life and knowing it would affect relationships with people I loved. I didn’t leave with everything figured out. I had to start figuring it out afterward.
“I didn’t leave with everything figured out. I had to start figuring it out afterward.”
That experience shows up in my writing, especially The Chosen. I’m interested in what happens when people are taught to distrust themselves, when love feels conditional, and when something harmful has been called normal for so long that it’s hard to recognize. Putting those experiences into a story gives me a different way to talk about them.
There’s more to my history than leaving a religion. Childhood, relationships, health, and trying to keep life together have all played a part. Sometimes those things are hard to separate. I don’t have a neat explanation for how to get through all of it, and I don’t want this page to sound like I do.
For a long time, I wanted nothing to do with anything the organization had touched, especially the Bible. More recently, I’ve been finding some comfort in scriptures I grew up with. I’m not returning to the organization. I’m giving myself room to decide what I believe and what helps me, without someone else deciding that for me.
