About

About the project: After Who I Was documents real experiences with gaslighting, emotional manipulation, and the confusion these patterns create.

After Who I Was exists because my story is still unfolding, focusing on what this experience is all about.

For years, I’ve faced gaslighting and manipulation from people I once trusted. It began in a workplace, but I left that profession to move forward. I believed distance would bring peace. Instead, the same behavior resurfaced, this time involving my children, their mother, people I once called friends, and even members of a town’s community. These were some of the earliest signs of gaslighting that I didn’t understand at the time, and it speaks volumes about the recurring patterns.

It feels like something coordinated, as if someone is pulling strings behind the scenes. I can’t say who or why, but the patterns are too deliberate to ignore. This is how long-term manipulation often feels for people experiencing gaslighting, and it covers so much about the ongoing challenges.

I don’t share this to accuse or inflame. I share it because silence protects the wrong people. No one ever asked for my side of the story, so I am documenting it myself to provide clarity about these experiences.

This space is my record of events, thoughts, and realizations as they continue. I write to make sense of what is happening and to help others recognize manipulation when it hides behind kindness or familiarity. This story truly is about reaching out and connecting through shared experiences.

I may never return to who I was before this began, but I can stand firm in truth. After Who I Was is my way of reclaiming that voice, one entry at a time. Writing these experiences helps others recognize patterns of manipulation and the emotional impact of gaslighting, which is central to all of this.