How time flies ..

I thought is was only yesterday when I was last here but I see that a few weeks have passed.
I have just been contacted by a TV director wanting to do a programme on how people leaving cults like the EBs find their identity. So now I am thinking about identity and wonder to what extent people raised in high demand groups develop a sense of an individual identity. Perhaps they don't. Reflecting on my childhood and early adulthood i cant get a sense of me knowing who I was. I seemed to be adrift in one sense and firmly attached to an amorphous mass called the brethren in another sense. Maybe my true self was the bit that was adrift - and I was living a kind of proxy self. And maybe it is those who manage to get a good sense of who they are before they leave who do better.

I don't know at the moment but it's worth thinking about.

So long..

Has it really been that long !
Much has happened in the intervening months - in particular I had a kind of "breakdown" I suppose one could call it and as it seemed connected with the my childhood in the brethren, my research in this area had to go on hold.
I have been encouraged to try blogging again by the experience of reading a blog by another former member who found writing to be therapeutic. I am currently re-reading his blog as I am presenting a paper using it at a conference in Dublin in June. It is proving difficult - I feel rather humbled by his writings.

Somehow this summer I have to find both the courage and the time to revisit my research and kick start it seriously. I am meeting with my supervisor on Monday to see how she can help.

Potentially I have a lot of time available over the next few months though there is a lot of marking to attend to at the university and next year's timetables to plan.

Any ideas out there how I can get my head down and ignore distractions including emotional ones??