If you’ve ever been in an MLM, you will know that they don’t call it a cult.
No cult calls itself a cult.
It could be masquerading as religion, a calling, a business, an opportunity.
Cults are sneaky. That’s how they get you.
I was got.
It took me years to realize how bad it was. Looking back it seems like a dream.
Did I really spend hundreds of dollars a month on beauty products so that I could “support my business?”
Did I really tell all my deepest, darkest secrets to my leader (known at the time as an “upline”)?
Did I really try to invite all my friends and family to join my “business” and when they didn’t, shut them out?
Did I really lose all of my friends from school once I became “committed to the dream?” And lose all of my “friends” once I got out?
Yes. I did. It’s hard to admit, but it’s true.
Crazy, but true: I was in a cult.
In therapy the other day, I brought up this experience. I talked about some of the crazy things I did and the upsetting mindset I had been in.
I was a zombie. I was a follower. I was hooked. I was “going diamond.” I gave up college for this.
It feels too out there to be true. But it is true. All of it. This is my story.