About
Hi my name is Karen.
I am English and I live in London.
I grew up in a very fundamentalist evangelical home where I was wonderfully loved and unintentionally conditioned to be fearful.
I married young and moved to the United States to be with him and lived there as a wife and mother for 10 years.
They were 10 years of mental, emotional, and sometimes physical cruelty.
I managed eventually to leave my marriage and with my son built a new life at home in England.
I have learned that leaving abusive relationships is one part of finding freedom. The other part is that the abusive relationships have to leave you.
The path to recovery , to discovering, or rediscovering your authentic self and having the courage to live free from fear is a life-long one.
We grow a little freer everyday.
I want to share my journey of recovery. The things I have learned. What has helped and what hasn’t.
I can honestly say that there were times I felt hope-less and that I would never live free from fear – that the journey was just too hard.
BUT at 55 I have been in a very loving relationship for 12 years , my son is a grown man now and expecting my first grandchild, and I am living in a place of inner freedom and peace I had hardly dared dream was possible. I am having a blast.
DONT GIVE UP
I now work as a trainer and mentor in self-esteem building, assertiveness and anxiety management.
I am also a photographer, artist, taxidermist, write poetry and blogging. (my other blog of random ramblings is called TUXADERMY, not taxidermy, tuxadermy! tuxadermy.wordpress.com).
THE TILTED ROOM 
July 1, 2013 at 1:57 pm
Yours is a wonderful tale of survival and rediscovery. I have a similar history and look forward to reading your story. Peace, Beth. Ps – you are now my official 500th follower and thank you for that )
July 1, 2013 at 2:04 pm
500 !! Wow – do I get a prize for being no 500 ! Lol
There are so many of us rebuilding our lives – we are courageous women who will not give up until we taste the saltiness of total freedom on our lips !!!! It’s good to meet you
July 1, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Of course you get the prize, I’ve mailed you an ice cream cone, and hope it makes it there intact ) I agree with you and it is interesting to look back, it felt like being born again, (not in any religious sense, I’m agnostic), but in my heart and soul, a new life. ) beth
July 1, 2013 at 8:45 pm
thanks for the ice cream – it was a nice thought – but sadly only the stick remained intact within a pool of lovely chocolate mush !
I agree it definitely is being born again – and i dont know about you but having gone through all that sh*t I now have a deeper gratitude for the ordinary every day things in life – its a silver lining in what was a dark cloud isnt it!
July 1, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Absolutely, and it seems a different lifetime to me now. Think that by leaving and living a life of kindness, safety, and joy again, it was a good example to my daughters.
July 1, 2013 at 10:08 pm
oh my god – yes, a wonderful example – my son was 2 when i finally left – it is so wonderful that he is now a man of 28, about to have his first child with the woman he loves, and to see that i have been able to raise him to respect women and to cherish his wife.
July 14, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Your story is compelling. Everyone reaches a breaking point. Having the balls to make a better life is commendable. You are a soldier, I am glad we have crossed paths. ❤
July 14, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Thank you – I glad we have too x
July 14, 2013 at 4:06 pm
By the way http://thefairytaletraveler.com/2013/07/14/fairytale-places-the-lost-gardens-of-heligan-cornwall-u-k/
Enjoy 🙂
July 25, 2013 at 12:10 am
I am happy to have connected with you. Continue to share your voice and people recover from the path of self destruction. God bless.
July 25, 2013 at 12:10 am
Thank you
August 3, 2013 at 2:27 pm
As I press on toward that place of true peace and happiness I feel encouraged by your words. If God did it for you he can do it for me too. Thanks for being such an encouragement 🙂
August 3, 2013 at 2:34 pm
my dear – if i manage only one thing in my short time on this planet, I hope it is that I am just that – an encouragement to others
thank you for your kind words
August 19, 2013 at 1:15 am
[…] Karen’s Testimony […]