it's always fun to catch up with someone from your old congregation who either will talk to you or just recently got out. that's how I learned all the juicy gossip about my so-called life.
but there is one thing that rang true for me in Kyria's book: I really lost my moral compass and ended up making a lot of mistakes from age 17-23 because I was so naive and so brainwashed. when everything you've known gets turned upside-down and you have nobody who understands and can help you through it, it's hard to know what's really bad and what was just JW-bad. the trust issues alone are worth years of therapy. the relief a person feels after shrugging off the terrible burden of being a JW is worth it, though.
I did end up dating a few losers and thought I didn't deserve better, and both my kids were unplanned and raised by just me after breaking up with their repective dads, but after I learned all my life lessons and got my street smarts, I did okay. I love my life, and I bet a few of the people I was told to cluck over loved their lives too and weren't miserable as people said.