Leaving the Simulation of Love

Crossing the Threshold: Leaving the Simulation of Love

There’s a moment in every survivor’s journey when the world shifts. The fog thins. The noise quiets. You realize you weren’t loved—you were managed. You weren’t seen—you were studied. What felt like connection was a carefully maintained illusion, an imitation of care that never carried empathy.

For a long time, I tried to make sense of it. I thought if I worked harder, gave more, stayed calmer, it would go back to the beginning—back to the “good parts.” But love without empathy is not love at all. It’s control. And control requires your confusion to survive.

When I finally stepped away, my body told the truth first. Sleep returned. My health improved. Friends said I looked lighter. That’s when it hit me: I hadn’t been “too sensitive.” I had been overexposed to cruelty disguised as care. The moment I chose clarity over confusion, I crossed a threshold—and the world felt real again.

If you’ve ever asked, “Do I deserve better?”—that question is your answer. You do.

Maybe you’re standing at that threshold now. Maybe you’re still sorting signals—trying to decide if what you felt was real. Here’s your permission to trust your nervous system, your intuition, your exhaustion. The absence of empathy isn’t a glitch you can fix. It’s a wall you can stop walking into.

#HealingJourney #NarcissisticAbuseRecovery #BreakFreeFromTheChains #KnowTheSigns #ClarityIsPower #SurvivorStrong