The Art of Cult Recovery
Entangled Thinking

Entangled Thinking

I was discouraged FROM THINKING MY OWN THOUGHTS, OR EVEN FROM THINKING AT All.

I was to submit obediently to what I was told because this is how god wanted girls and women to be.

The story of Eve’s sin was used as a coercive tool along with the many other examples of female submission required in the Bible.

I became incapable of thinking for myself; I didn’t even want to because I believed that I would be defying god if I acted out of his will by thinking for myself.

Unquestioning obedience meant I was denying myself and pleasing god.

The Recovering Artist.

Becoming an Artist

Painting into the emotion of my experiences in the cult I was raised from birth in has helped to bring emotional healing and clarity to me as I seek ongoing recovery from my abusive restrictive former existence.

I was not able to begin to consider painting anything until I left the cult after 43 years of submission and obedience where the practise of art was considered a waste of god’s time, and something not to be pursued or tolerated.

I am now a self-motivated artist who has benefitted from being a member of several amateur art groups. I observe and learn from others, but am always filtering and interpreting my art though my own life experience. My current mentor has been particularly helpful in guiding and letting me develop my style in my own way. Quite often I am surprised at what I paint but I understand the wisdom that is coming from within.

I paint my own ideas from my own pain and this often enables reflection and abstract interpretation of the memories and emotional experiences forced on me by my father and others who were leaders in this cult system of religion.

The Recovering Artist.