Lily Carroll, Author at Tiny Buddha

Posts by Lily Carroll

Lily Carroll is a domestic abuse survivor who feels compelled to tell her story. She wants to reach fellow survivors who feel confused and alone, to help them feel less alone and give them hope. Because there is hope. This is her first attempt at doing this. She doesn’t yet have a website or a blog but hopes to set one up in future.

I Don’t Know Who I Am: How I’m Finding Myself Again After the Abuse

By Lily Carroll

“When you turn the corner / And you run into yourself / Then you know that you have turned / All the corners that are left.” ~Langston Hughes

Nearly two years ago I left a long-term controlling and abusive relationship.

I didn’t know that I was in one. I just knew that I was desperate.

Abusers take everything away from you. I don’t just mean your money or your home or your children, although they take those as well. I mean everything, including your sense of self.

Toward the end of the relationship, I wrote in my journal: “I …