Welcome to Cultivated.
This is a serialized memoir about growing up inside a faith so secretive it forgot to name itself — which is exactly the kind of detail that turns out to matter later. There were rules (no TV, no jewelry, no pants) and enough sermons to power a small generator, but mostly there was the feeling that leaving would cost you absolutely everything.
Each post is a chapter, a fragment, a breadcrumb. You can read in order if you’re the type who likes a clean narrative arc and is good at spreadsheets. Or who wants to be good at spreadsheets.
Or you can jump around if you’re more like me in your general life approach. (I won’t call it shambles, but you know what I mean.)
Both ways work just fine. The world would be pretty boring if we were all the same, right? And the fragmented nature of how I work means starting in the middle doesn’t really mean starting in the middle.
Ways to Read or Listen
Start at the beginning if you want to follow in order. Be advised, though: I am not an orderly person.
ORBrowse around if you’d rather piece the story together like a detective in a crime drama where the crime is "religion."
Check the glossary if you hit a term that sounds made-up but is unfortunately real (looking at you, Workers). References has news, more official websites, etc.
Subscribe if you want to receive each new piece by email, or just visit whenever you feel like checking in on the slow-motion unspooling of someone’s childhood.
Here’s a button, nice and easy.
Because this is not a retirement plan, and because the only things I understand about algorithms is that they exist and take their cues from what happens (or doesn’t), if you think someone might like to read or listen to my work?
Please feel free to share it.
I hate typing this stuff, it feels like I’m knocking at your door with a pamphlet to help you draw closer to God, yet here we are. Subscribing and sharing this means people who might feel less alone find this content easier. And — your support means an awful lot to me.
However you do this? You are so welcome here.
Where to Begin