me_irl

Yeah, US politics has been hugely distressing for me, it's such a direct continuation of my childhood trauma sometimes, with added new threats to worry about.

It also helps to recognize the areas of my life where I did get lucky breaks. My belief in the cult broke when I was 19, and I was so convinced my stepdad would literally murder me that I ran away from home and started couch surfing with strangers I met on the internet. I knew it might be human trafficking, I knew that these people could rape me and dump my body in a ditch, but between this rock and that hard place, there was a small glimmer of hope.

I got lucky. They helped me establish my residency in a new state, going so far as to notarize an affidavit that I was living at their address, so I could get a state ID and start looking for work. I was able to find a job, and get a cheap dorm-style apartment with shared bathrooms and kitchen/commons, find love.

Then the bottom fell out of the market in the '08 crash.

I got so very lucky.