How does isolation impact a young mind being raised in a cult environment?
In part 1 of this interview we’re going to cover childhood education, higher education, isolation in rural Montana, facing political ideologies of devout CUT members, how Annie's experience parallels that of the author Tara Westover who wrote the book Educated, and mistrust of the medical world.
Annie also talks about how her parents were drawn into Church Universal and Triumphant, how their fringe health beliefs created and environment of dangerous medical neglect. She also opens up about the challenges she experienced as a bi-sexual woman in a homophobic religious culture.
Check out Justice's article on this exploration of the relationship between trauma and creativity.
Trauma Survivors & the Broken-Hearted: Don’t miss out on this kind of Therapy.
"So often, we harden around pain, stifling the joyful sprite who loved to dance, or paint, or tell stories, or even dress in fabulous costumes. “That’s not practical,” we heard. And that phrase hurt so we stopped. Though opening up to those tender places within ourselves is sometimes scary, we must find bravery in vulnerability. We need our creative fire to know we are alive.
It is often in the practice of our craft that catharsis occurs. In sharing our joy and our pain, that expression becomes more than ours alone—it becomes universal."
To read the full article on Elephant Journal (click here)