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The first time my narcissistic mother said, “I’m sorry you feel that way,” I actually thought we had a breakthrough. For a brief moment, I felt seen. Like maybe, just maybe, she was beginning to understand the years of pain she’d caused. I was soooo wrong. What I thought was an apology turned out to … Read more
The day I walked away for good, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and barely recognized the woman staring back. My eyes looked tired in a way makeup couldn’t fix. My shoulders slumped like they were carrying decades of someone else’s weight. After twenty years of being talked over, manipulated, made to feel … Read more
I used to forget the entire conversations, sometimes just hours after they happened. I’d walk into a room and completely forget why I was there. Names, appointments, simple tasks… gone. My mind felt like a foggy, unreliable mess. For a while, I genuinely thought I was losing it. Maybe I was just getting older? Maybe … Read more
I truly and honestly thought that cutting ties with my narcissistic family would bring peace. Instead, it brought an emptiness I didn’t expect, like feeling completely lost and alone. After years of surviving conversations laced with manipulation, guilt-tripping, betrayals, and emotional dismissal, I finally have the courage to cut ties from the toxic people in … Read more
Ever notice how one simple sentence can send a narcissist spiraling into a silent rage? For me, many, many times! That was so satisfying to see! I used to think I was imagining it. I’d say something completely harmless, like, “Actually, I already knew that.” And suddenly my toxic older sister’s tone would shift, her … Read more
I thought cutting them off would be the end of it. I blocked their number. I muted every chat. I stopped showing up, stopped explaining myself, stopped playing the exhausting game. Finally, I could breathe. Or so I thought. But somehow… somehow… they were still everywhere. Watching my Instagram stories through fake accounts. Asking my … Read more
Narcissists feed on emotions the way fire feeds on oxygen. Every sigh, every frown, every defensive comeback, they drink it in like fuel. I know this too well. How? Well, I grew up with a few and dated one! Growing up, my toxic mother could turn the simplest conversation into an emotional minefield. I tried … Read more
“I didn’t go no contact right away. I stayed. But I didn’t play fair anymore.” That’s the truth I rarely said out loud. Leaving isn’t always simple when it’s family, when it’s your mother, father, or sister. The bond feels heavier. I stayed, not out of love, but out of guilt, obligation, and exhaustion. But … Read more
There was a time I thought if I just asked “why” enough, eventually my mother would tell me the truth. Why did she lie about me to our relatives? Why did she pretend everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t? Why did it seem like she cared more about how things looked than how I … Read more
I still remember the first time I almost spoke up… and didn’t. It was after a family dinner where my toxic sister made a degrading joke about me. Everyone laughed. I forced myself to laugh, too. That was always the unspoken rule in my dysfunctional family: don’t make things awkward. Don’t make it worse. But … Read more
