“They called it madness. I called it survival.”

2025/7/8 Edited to

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you called it strength…but it was survival
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A child called “it” - dave pelzer
spoken word... Absolutely — here’s a spoken-word version: I come from a people who turned pennies into power, who turned a front room, a brownstone, a basement, a borrowed speaker into a sanctuary. When rent came due and the money came up short, we did not only panic — we gat
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Cecil, the assault victim, lies in a hospital bed on life support, surrounded by family members. Medical equipment monitors his condition as loved ones gather at his bedside during a difficult time.
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A sunset or sunrise over a field of green and brown grasses, with the text overlay "Today, September 14 Small changes can make a HUGE difference! I Am Sober" and Lemon8 branding.
He Called It Love. I Call It Survival.
ᐯㄩㄥ几乇尺卂乃丨ㄥ丨ㄒㄚ 🤍 ̵̍̾̋̕͜M̋̋y̋ ̋S̋̋t̋̋ő̋r̋̋y̋҉́: IᐯE ᔕᑌᖇᐯIᐯEᗪ ᖇEᑭEᗩTEᗪ Tᖇᗩᑌᗰᗩ ᗷY ᑭEOᑭᒪE ᗯᕼO ᗯEᖇE ᔕᑌᑭᑭOᔕEᗪ TO ᒪOᐯE ᗩᑎᗪ ᑕᗩᖇE ᖴOᖇ ᗰE 🤍 ̽̒̂̑͗ͅH͈̫͓̥͍̦̩̱ͭ͐o̘͇̩̞͍̭̜͔ͯ̋ͭ͂ͯ̉w̯͗ͤ̑͂ͥ ͎͕̦ͫ̊̊ͨ͑I̗ ̺̘̟̼̓F̣̙̣̟̺̲̦͚̙͒̐̒e͕̬̠͔̞̔͛͌̔͒̐̏́l͙̬̞̥̠̜̈́ͯ̾͊ͅt͓̙͔͊: I ᖴEᒪT ᑭOᗯEᖇᒪEᔕᔕ. TᖇᗩᑭᑭEᗪ. ᗩᔕᕼᗩᗰEᗪ. ᑕOᑎᖴᑌᔕEᗪ. I ᑫᑌEᔕTIOᑎEᗪ ᗰ
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✨ Why Healing Feels So Uncomfortable (and Why That’s Normal) ✨
Healing isn’t just “feeling better.” It’s actually your brain and body rewiring old survival patterns. Overthinking everything Your brain is trying to protect you by scanning for danger. Letting go of what you loved Even unhealthy attachments feel safe because they’re familiar. Grieving th
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Deliverance starts with vulnerability 💋👌🏽
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Retired from Nursing at 30 💸✨🦋
I told them if they’ll be my background singers, I’ll show them for FREE how I make 5 figures a month and retired from bedside nursing by the age of 30 😭💼🎤 Because working 12-hour shifts, missing family time, and praying your direct deposit hits shouldn’t be the only version of success nurses kn
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A poem titled 'Medusa Was a Woman First' is displayed in black text on a white background. The text discusses Medusa's story, reinterpreting her as a woman punished for others' violence, whose power was feared rather than honored, and whose gaze revealed truth.
Medusa Was a Woman First
They made a monster out of her because they could not survive her gaze. Because power in a woman has always been easier to fear than to honor. So they gave her snakes and called her cursed, turned survival into ugliness, turned rage into legend. But Medusa was a woman first. She was breat
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We called it love… but it was survival.
Some love stories don’t end… they just keep hurting. Not because they want to… but because they never learned how to love without pain. This isn’t a fairytale. This is what happens when trauma feels like passion… and love feels like survival. Welcome to the wreckage. 🥀💔 #LoveMeD
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They Called It Strength. It Was Survival.
A quiet reminder for anyone who learned strength through survival. You’re allowed to rest here. #GentleTruth #QuietStrength #HealingWords #EmotionalWellbeing #SheSpeaksFire
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They called it surrender. I called it freedom.
✨ I walked away Not in anger. Not in fear. In quiet, steady clarity. And they didn’t understand—so they called it giving up. ✨ But they never saw the weight The things I carried. The silence I held. The version of me I edited just to keep everything “fine.” ✨ I didn’t quit I let go of what
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Before I Called It Love
There’s something inside of me. That much is certain. Something without a name, without shape, without mercy. A thing that festers quietly, burning beneath my ribs like a secret trying to survive. I wish it would end. This ache. This thing I try so hard to hate. Yet somehow, I c
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Muscle Types Made Simple & Exciting
Muscles are specialized tissues in the human body responsible for movement, stability, and vital internal functions. There are three main types: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles, each with unique structures and roles. Skeletal muscles are attached to bones and have visible striations; they are
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🌹 The Rose Queen
They called her dangerous because roses grew where she walked. Not because she hurt anyone. Not because she started wars. But because every place they tried to destroy somehow bloomed again. Some people mistake survival for rebellion. And some gardens refuse to die.
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IRS just called. They think I’m a financial genius
Let me set the scene: I'm in my $0 rent apartment, opening my utility assistance check, when the IRS calls about an audit. They saw my reported income and couldn't fathom my living situation. ""How do you manage?"" they asked. Ma'am, I follow the rulebook YOU wrote. It&#
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“Endure” New Painting Alert
What changes in a child when enduring becomes normal? This piece is called ENDURE. Half human. Half armor. Was survival praised in your childhood? Let’s talk. #Endure #ArtDiscussion #HealingThroughArt #BlackCreatives #ModernExpression #ArtCommunity
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I called it roughing it, my pal didn't agree 🤣
Got it! Here's a clearer version based on your clarification: We went glamping, and while we stayed at the campsite, we drove up to drop off our things, which made things much easier. The campsite was located near a town with plenty of restaurants, so we didn’t have to worry about preparing
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They Called Me Superwoman… and I Finally Understand Why 🤍
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They call it “Being Strong”, but at What Cost?
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A dark room with a bright vertical beam of light from an open door, symbolizing moving from darkness into Christ's light. Text asks, 'After living years in the darkness, You should be loud about living in Christ. Do you remember?' with a date and 'READ CAPTION BELOW'.
Text from the article's caption, titled 'Do you Remember?', describing the struggles of living in darkness, including confusion, anxiety, and self-reliance, and the subsequent calling by the Shepherd's voice.
Continuation of the article's caption, detailing the journey of trusting and following the Shepherd out of darkness, experiencing surrender as falling into mercy, and finding restoration and light.
JESUS CALLED YOU INTO A LIFE OF LIGHT! 🤍
Living in darkness teaches you how to survive. You learn how to navigate confusion. How to function while anxious. How to move forward without clarity. How to depend only on yourself. But survival is not the same as a life of light in Christ. Christ called you out from the dark And int
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A woman with dark skin, eyes closed, and a serene expression, wearing a flowing light-colored dress, stands in a warm-lit field. Her left hand is on her chest. Overlay text reads: "It wasn't love— it was survival dressed as desire." The Lemon8 logo and @soulsync.mpls handle are at the bottom left.
🔥“When Survival Masquerades as Love”
📜 It wasn’t love… It was the ache to not be alone. It was the craving to be chosen, even if it meant losing myself. But now? I no longer confuse urgency with alignment. I’ve retired from calling pain my passion. 🧠 Helpful Insight: Sometimes we settle for chemistry when we’re starving for
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Real Love vs. Survival Love
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📖 The True Story That Broke My Heart and Inspired Me
📚💜 BOOK SERIES RECOMMENDATION 💔 A Story of Survival, Resilience & Hope 💔 Some books entertain you. Some books stay with you forever. A Child Called “It” and The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer tell the heartbreaking true story of a young boy who endured unimaginable abuse and neglect, yet some
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Here’s what I’ve learned…
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I Thought It Was Strength… But It Was Survival
For a long time, I thought I was just being strong… But truthfully, I was in survival mode — disconnected, exhausted, and emotionally numb. Healing showed me there’s more to life than just pushing through. Now? I choose softness. I choose peace. I choose me. ✨ If you’re learning to live and
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Save Yourself The Trouble….
Everyone says healing is beautiful— but they forget to mention that it’s also grief. You’ll outgrow identities that once protected you. You’ll lose the version of yourself who only knew survival. You’ll question everything you once called normal. Don’t start your healing journey thinking i
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A sky with warm, cloudy hues of orange and blue, featuring the text '4 things I didn't realize were trauma responses' with a right arrow. The Lemon8 logo and username are in the bottom left corner.
An open planner with handwritten tasks for different days of the week, with a pen resting on it. Overlay text reads: 'my work ethic? i realized it was obsessive, not productive. I was just trying to prove my worth'.
A person is shown resting or sleeping under a soft, grey and white patterned blanket. Overlay text states: 'my reputation as the "nice" one? i realized i was just too scared of conflict and abandonment to stand up for myself'.
When I stopped surviving, I didn’t know who I was
for so long, my identity was built on coping - doing, pleasing, achieving, controlling. I called it strength, but really it was survival. when I started healing and letting go of those coping mechanisms/false labels, I was left with a version of myself I didn’t recognize. letting go of survi
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They Handed Her Survival 🔥🖤
Some women weren’t given comfort. They were handed pain, pressure, and moments that forced them to grow up fast. So they became warmth. The listener. The safe space. The one who loves even when life wasn’t gentle with them. Because survival didn’t harden them… it revealed their strength.
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They called her too loud when she refused to shrink. Too much when she demanded more. Too strong when she didn’t break the way they expected. What they didn’t see were the hands behind her women who bent under weight the world never apologized for, women who hummed hymns in fields, in kitchen
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what's D.I.D disorder
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📜 ALGOL — The Star They Called Monstrous
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🚨 NEW MINI COURSE DROP 🚨
Scholarship MiniMadness
This is for the families who are: ❌ Sick of scholarship overwhelm ❌ Tired of Googling aimlessly at 11PM ❌ Watching deadlines pass while essays sit half-written ❌ Thinking, “We’ll figure it out later…” (Newsflash: later = broke.) 🎯 This mini course gives you the exact strategy I use with stu
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Keep it going
Keep it going, people. Hold fast to what was handed down in whispers, in kitchens, on porches, in prayer and in root. What lives in you is older than doubt and stronger than denial. Let no outside voice quiet what Spirit already confirmed inside you. Your work is not small—it is living, breathin
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1985 called. It wants its final girl back. 💅
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The book cover for 'The Last House on Needless Street' by Catriona Ward, featuring a yellow circle with a house silhouette. Overlaid keywords include 'Mystery', 'Survival', 'Trauma', 'Transformation', 'Suspense', and 'Psychological'.
5 Horror Valentine's Day Books 💌🌹💕
“The Shape of Water” is a unique love story set during the Cold War, centering on a mute woman who forms a deep bond with a mysterious aquatic creature held in a government facility. This enchanting tale explores themes of acceptance, loneliness, and the power of connection against a backdrop of so
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Starting a new series called The Cycle of Healing
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A woman with long braided hair and a green dress takes a selfie, holding an orange-cased phone. Text overlay reads "Protect your energy SURVIVAL TIPS FOR EMPATHIC WOMEN" and "HI, I'M UNBOTHERED," introducing tips for empathic women.
Black background with white text stating, "Girl, Be Careful. Empathic, intuitive, spiritually aware women... are usually the most vulnerable to manipulation... Not because you are weak. Because you are open."
Black background with white text stating, "Here's the Truth. Softness without boundaries is self abandonment. If you want to survive as an empathic woman, you need structure."
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UNSTARVE: Collapse of the Dependence Oath We unstarve the root. They called it survival. They called it work. They called it the price of staying alive. But the price was your pulse. And the wage was your own light returned to you, measured and taxed. The Dependence Oath was not born f
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We Didn’t Choose This Diet — We Inherited It.
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Expectations 🤍
Can you relate to this testimony? I sure can, on this lovely journey called Marriage, is the MOST intimate relationship I have ever been in. Over the years my awareness and knowledge about my husband as a man; has grown. Coming from where I have, makes sense that “I wanted a person simi
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The Strength They Applauded Nearly Broke Me.
🧍‍♀️ I held it together—because I had to Growing up, money was tight. There was no cushion, no backup, no room to fall apart. Later, as a single mom, even with child support—most of it was on me. 💔 They saw the strength, not the cost I worked. I endured. I made it look easy. But inside? I
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🜃 It was never man vs woman.
It was always memory vs programming. They pit us against each other because they fear what we are together. They fed him pride without presence. They fed her survival without rest. They made her feel too much. They made him feel not enough. And called it balance. But we were never enemie
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It Wasn’t Contentment—It Was Conditioning
🔒 What they called “enough” was actually a limit They said I should be grateful. That contentment was quiet, safe, and obedient. But what I was really taught was how to shrink. 🧠 I didn’t feel broken—I felt boxed in I wasn’t lazy. I wasn’t ungrateful. I just knew deep down: this wasn’t it.
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Thrive in Your 30s: Your 30s Survival Guide in 30💎
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🫵🏾’r making progress even if it feels like survival
There was a season of my life where nothing moved. Or at least… that’s what it felt like. Everyone else kept going. Life kept happening. Doors kept opening for other people. And I felt stuck in the same dark place. Still. Heavy. Exhausted. It wasn’t loud pain. It was quiet su
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