02/25/2026
I was taught that evil would be obvious. That it would look like strangers in white vans offering candy. That danger would feel foreign. That most people were good, and the bad ones would reveal themselves clearly enough for you to run. You weren’t a stranger.
You walked the same halls, lived in the same kind of neighborhood, spoke in a familiar voice. You didn’t look like danger. You looked like everyone else.
That’s what changed everything.
You didn’t shatter my worldview all at once. You did it slowly. Quietly. You questioned things I was certain of. You dismissed my feelings. You spoke with a confidence that made me doubt myself. Over time, your voice grew louder in my mind than my own.
You called me sheltered for believing people were good.
You made kindness sound like weakness.
You made trust feel like stupidity.
And eventually, I stopped trusting myself.
Not because you proved me wrong—but because you made me feel small enough to believe I was. The most confusing part is that you didn’t look like evil. You looked normal. You could laugh, smile, and exist in the world like nothing was wrong. That’s what no one prepares you for—that harm doesn’t always announce itself. It can come from someone who says they love you. Someone who sleeps beside you. Someone who slowly convinces you that your reality is flawed. Narcissistic abuse doesn’t just hurt you—it changes how you see everything.
It makes you question your instincts. Your memories. Your ability to judge character. It makes the world feel less safe, not because everyone is dangerous, but because you learned that danger doesn’t always look like danger. But here is the truth that takes time to relearn: What happened didn’t make you naïve. It made you human.
And the fact that you trusted, believed, and loved deeply was never your flaw. The flaw was in the person who used those things against you. The hardest part isn’t realizing evil exists. It’s realizing it doesn’t always look the way you were taught.
And the strongest thing you can do now isn’t becoming cold or closed off.
It’s learning to trust yourself again.
