Beautifully written. I text my children almost every week to let them know I love them and I'm thinking about them. I haven't received a response in over a year, but I owe it to them to continue to remind them I am here whenever they are ready to talk.
Thank you for sharing that, Adam. That "year of silence" is a heavy weight to carry, but there is a profound dignity in your persistence. You're providing them with exactly what's needed: a baseline of love that doesn't require a receipt to be real. It's not an easy path, but keeping that door unlocked is sometimes the most powerful thing a parent can do. Stay strong.
Great article and sad because it’s a terrible situation with extreme control and brainwashing. The Cult of Alienation is real and not spoken about. I wish there was more that can be done. But in a day and age where thinking for yourself if greatly diminishing, I have little hope for adult children to stop, think and make an informed decision. Running to the alienator to show they have been contacted by “that” parent is more likely than taking a moment to really think for yourself. Life is too short to be a puppet.
You’ve seen the "Puppet" dynamic closer than anyone. You’re right..: in the Cult of Alienation, the immediate impulse for an adult child is often to "report" the contact to the alienator just to stay safe within that system. It takes an incredible amount of internal strength to pause and just feel the love for what it is. We can’t force that awakening, but we can refuse to stop being present just because the signals are being jammed. Thank you for standing in this gap and refusing to play the role they scripted for us.
I wrestled with that same guilt for years. I realized I was treating my sons like a 'transaction'; I send love, they send validation. When I shifted to "baseline atmosphere," the power dynamic changed. I'm no longer waiting for a reply to feel okay; I'm just keeping the door unlocked. It's much easier on the nervous system.
Beautifully written. I text my children almost every week to let them know I love them and I'm thinking about them. I haven't received a response in over a year, but I owe it to them to continue to remind them I am here whenever they are ready to talk.
Thank you for sharing that, Adam. That "year of silence" is a heavy weight to carry, but there is a profound dignity in your persistence. You're providing them with exactly what's needed: a baseline of love that doesn't require a receipt to be real. It's not an easy path, but keeping that door unlocked is sometimes the most powerful thing a parent can do. Stay strong.
Great article and sad because it’s a terrible situation with extreme control and brainwashing. The Cult of Alienation is real and not spoken about. I wish there was more that can be done. But in a day and age where thinking for yourself if greatly diminishing, I have little hope for adult children to stop, think and make an informed decision. Running to the alienator to show they have been contacted by “that” parent is more likely than taking a moment to really think for yourself. Life is too short to be a puppet.
You’ve seen the "Puppet" dynamic closer than anyone. You’re right..: in the Cult of Alienation, the immediate impulse for an adult child is often to "report" the contact to the alienator just to stay safe within that system. It takes an incredible amount of internal strength to pause and just feel the love for what it is. We can’t force that awakening, but we can refuse to stop being present just because the signals are being jammed. Thank you for standing in this gap and refusing to play the role they scripted for us.
I wrestled with that same guilt for years. I realized I was treating my sons like a 'transaction'; I send love, they send validation. When I shifted to "baseline atmosphere," the power dynamic changed. I'm no longer waiting for a reply to feel okay; I'm just keeping the door unlocked. It's much easier on the nervous system.