Posts by Cinnamon (TOO)

My friend list has a limit of 10. It's at 11 right now because I made an exception for an ex-JW with some interesting similarities. No co-workers allowed -- I want my private life to remain private.

Facebook friends are not a pokemon game. I don't need to collect 'em all.

9

Gardeners your most dreaded project?....sorry more fluff!

by restrangled in

jw
friends

this winter in florida we had horrible freezes for days on end.

it managed to kill 20 year old bouganvilla.

now in case you don't know what this is, it's a horrible invasive plant from hell but looks beautiful.

Cinnamon (TOO)

@ restrangled: I purchased it for a couple of dollars from a guy who found them in his back yard. He always has intersting things for sale. I think you can buy nests over the internet, too.

18

i'm painfully curious on this subject.. when you have devoted your entire life, your entire social circle, everything you know......to this religion....when you fade away, how did you make new friends?

how did you replace all those people you thought were your friends?.

on top of fading away....... i lost a 'relationship' with a 'sister' due to not wanting to continue as a jw.

Cinnamon (TOO)

thanks for creating this thread. making friends has been very hard for me. trust and conditional relationships are my biggest hurdles.

9

Gardeners your most dreaded project?....sorry more fluff!

by restrangled in

jw
friends

this winter in florida we had horrible freezes for days on end.

it managed to kill 20 year old bouganvilla.

now in case you don't know what this is, it's a horrible invasive plant from hell but looks beautiful.

Cinnamon (TOO)

@ restrangled: This will be my first time working with them so it should be an interesting learning experience. All I have to do is keep the nest in a cool spot until the weather is consistently warm. I live in Maryland and the weather hasn't stabilized yet. From what I understand, a ton of these little guys will emerge without warning. That's when the work will start. I'm giving most of them to my parents and a friend at work but I have to keep them from eating other before they arrive at their new homes!

I think it's pretty cool that you have an owl. Does he keep the mice at bay? Does the hooting keep you up at night?

5

12 step program for recovering JW's

by besty in

jw
friends

taking a leaf from the aa i think we should write a 12 step manifesto for ex-jw's.. my initial step inspired by chickpea:.

along with the righteous over-much shunning by the very ones whose company would drive me to suicide in paradise.

"we came to realize the company of those who would drive us to suicide in the paradise was not worth jack in the present".

Cinnamon (TOO)

I like it!

I think there should be a step to address the paranoia

Just a thought

9

Did your parents' zealousness ever embarass you?

by keyser soze in

my dad was/is very zealous about announcing his faith.

but he doesn't quite have the knack for it, or the tact.. case in point: when i was a kid, about 12 i think, him, my brother and i were walking into a department store when we encountered a lady out in front who was passing out leaflets for a political candidate.

it wasn't even a major election.

Cinnamon (TOO)

YES!!!!

In the bathroom line at a popular mall. DragonLady (my mom) spotted the daughter (non-JW) of a sister in our cong. She proceeded to remind her of her lack of faith in Jehovah. Outloud. I'm talking about a shouting match, people. In front of everyone. Or, at least everyone standing in front of the women's restroom so you can imagine the number of people who witnessed this little incident.

DragonLady never misses an oppurtunity to remind people that they don't have the Truth!

42

No I don't believe anyone here has been permanently warped by the Borg any more than your parents could do the same to you.

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

you are who you are so much more due to your own peculiar genetic inheritance, and this is what eventually prevails.. there was a longitudinal study i read a number of years ago that tested the idea that we all have inborn "happiness setpoints".

these people in the study were followed through 20-25 years and periodically examined as regards their self-reported measures of happiness.

the finding was that no matter what happened either positively or negatively in their lives, within 8-12 weeks they were universally back to their baseline.. this means a couple of things:.

Cinnamon (TOO)

Sorry, I'm late to the game but I have to add my two cents:

I would like to call bullsh*t on the following statement--

"If you left the Borg in a dramatic fashion, within 8-12 weeks of adjustment you'd be pretty much as happy as you've ever been."

That may be true in some circumstances. However, as someone who was forcibly removed from the only life they knew and thrown into a life that they were raised to fear and abhor, it took me a lot longer than a few months to return to baseline. Try a over a decade. If the PI of this study would like to pay my therapy bills, I will gladly entertain this little observation.

9

Gardeners your most dreaded project?....sorry more fluff!

by restrangled in

jw
friends

this winter in florida we had horrible freezes for days on end.

it managed to kill 20 year old bouganvilla.

now in case you don't know what this is, it's a horrible invasive plant from hell but looks beautiful.

Cinnamon (TOO)

dealing with pests. I'm going to hatch a praying mantis nest in a month or two. Hope it helps

45

If You Weren't In Rapt Attention What Did You Think About During The Meetings?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i used to think of leaving early.

at the end i started making excuses to leave (supposedly work related) so that i could just get out of there.

i wanted a drink!.

Cinnamon (TOO)

- that cute boy who always sat on the OTHER side of the hall

- trying not to get caught by mom for stealing glances of aforementioned cute boy

-mainitaining a careful balance between zoning out and remaining conscious enough to stay awake

- avoiding spankings by: taking notes, staying awake, not missing my turn to answer a question and giving a thorough scripture-infested response, don't figet, don't forget one of the books at home (and heaven help you if you forget your bible!!!). of course, this doesn't guarantee anything, but still...

-avoiding spankings

- thursday night meetings: friday is the next day. weekend is here! hopefully, i won't have to go out in the service on Saturday...

- wondering what other kids (non-JW's) did while I'm stuck here

-avoiding spankings