The thread entitled, "Mormons Don't Have a Life Outside of Church Culture" made me realize that I don't have a life outside of exmormon.org culture. :)
me neither, aside from my immediate family, my ideas of how I can get back into socializing is (unfortunately) going to other churches (I'd rather Not go to ANY church) or get a job that involves me being able to talk to people in person (there's an upside to customer service....) Sigh....
When you are ready...that is, when you are sick of complaining about Mormonism and feel you will scream if you hear another word...
then you can turn your attention to building a normal life for yourself based upon YOUR HEALTH and YOUR INTERESTS.
You have handicaps to overcome, like not knowing what your interests might have been had all your time not been sucked up serving the voracious and never-ending needs of a lying cult, so it is going to be uncomfortable.
Like a child who grew up with an institution for parents, you may have no role model for how people made the connections which support them in life.
I suggest you eliminate churches from your life unless you truly love God and cannot imagine a life not centered around him. The reason is not that there's anything wrong with a church-centered life (that is not a cult of course) but rather that you are like a recovering alcoholic and need to stay away from people telling you what you need to do and who you are.
You need to excavate your interior landscape and find that out for yourself. I suggest you buy Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way," which is a workbook and do every single exercise.
She will have you taking yourself out on enrichment dates where you plan activities which fill your mind with new experiences. These exposures stimulate you and bring out your creativity. You may discover you want to bring a sketchbook or a camera with you to the beach. Or you may instead sew up a backpack made of screening so you can bring home more rocks (that's what I did).
Very quickly I developed several interests I had deferred in order to (metaphorically) scrub toilets for ChurchCo.
You will smile and speak to at least one stranger in each new setting, as an exercise in socialization. I was amazed at how friendly most people are. Soon you will be having a cup of coffee with people you met at the lapidary shop or the art museum. As time goes by, some of these will develop into real friendships.
All of my life is outside the culture of TSCC. Except my TBM DW. And DW still paying tithing. And family TBM culture. Living in heart of TBM land. TSCC periodicals on the coffee table. VT that visit DW. Temples and meeting houses that litter drive time. I am not out am I?
I'm an activist. Get out and get involved. I think everyone's story on this board is important and more then those on this board should hear your story. To right the wrong that has been done to you and others needs to be told to general society. It isn't just the ex mormons that suffer from distortions of religion. I find when I tell others the plight and plots of mormonism and it's control over a society, they start thinking and recognizing injust. Thought and recgonition are verbs.
I was becoming reclusive again so I've decided to say "YES" to any and all social invitations. It gets me out of the house and into great discussions about things other than mormonism.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2013 03:58PM by wine country girl.
Search for top ten ways to leave the mormon church. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the name. It talks about investing in yourself, getting a hobby, giving back. All very worthy pursuits.