To the users of MovingOn.org,
It has been seven-and a-half years since MovingOn was launched. I hoped then it would become a place where those of us who were born and raised in The Family could meet, communicate, and support each other and I have seen that realised in ways I could not have imagined. Over the years thousands of people have participated in the web site and shared our hopes, pains, accomplishments, opinions, and journey with the other survivors there.
It has been tremendous to see so many of us find support in our post-Family lives and gain the necessary confidence to choose a life that is not limited by the rigid restrictions set on us in our childhood. It has been a long road for us to move from fear and isolation to strength and community, but so many have done it, and for me, it’s been incredible to watch. It has been an honour to have hosted this place that has been so completely ours for so long.
That honour, however, has come with a personal price. As we who were born and raised in The Family know so well, in the absence of the safety net of a caring family and basic support; gaining education, career experience, financial assets, and solid healthy relationships are critical to our stability. Many of us left The Family for the right to pursue these things and because we chose to no longer sacrifice our own needs for a “cause” or the demands of others. This was, and is the case for me.
Yet as I have seen others achieve and progress, I have often felt like an observer to the process, shut out of the chance to obtain these things myself. The reality is that the commitment that MovingOn.org has required of me has significantly impacted my life in those areas of education, financial stability, relationships and my health.
So the time has come for me to close MovingOn.org and to move forward myself. It may seem like a sudden decision but this is in fact not the case. My friends know that I have given this a great deal of thought for some time. I will continue to hold the domain name and the contents of the site will hopefully be archived sometime in the near future.
I do believe that the most important thing that each of us can do is to live and to live an unrestricted and full life--it is essential that no one else ends up as a martyr to this cause. I believe that we are each responsible for our own happiness and well being, and for making choices that allow us to flourish and achieve our dreams.
I wish you all well and the very best that life has to offer,
Jules
For online forums related to The Family please see:
http://www.xfamily.org
http://www.exfamily.org
