Hi everybody!
I've now been in the US for almost a week and thought it was about time I gave you all an update.. Yesterday, I hopped on a flight up to Oregon and attended the SAFE Portland conference, which is a regular event organised by a local group of cult survivors. Thanks to your support here on Buy Me a Coffee, I was able to pay for a ticket and cover my travel expenses - and I can't express how grateful I am for the opportunity.
There were strict rules about photography out of respect for the privacy of those attending, who were all at varying points in their recovery journeys.. however, there were over a hundred attendees from a variety of backgrounds including a number of counsellors and mental health professionals who were there for their own education or professional development.
The conference gave me an opportunity to meet some familiar faces and after one of the workshops I joined a group of fellow ex-Scientologists in the courtyard to enjoy the beautiful weather and heal together. Although I've spoken online with a number of fellow SPTV Creators over the last year, meeting in person always holds greater significance to me when it comes to building relationships. It was the certainly the largest cluster of SPs I'd ever been a part of and it was certainly cathartic to meet Nora Ames, Gary 'Jackson' Morehead, Jefferson Hawkins, Liz Gale, Katherine Olson and Chris Shelton for the first time face-to-face. Jeff Beaumont (PTS for LIfe), who visited London back in November to protest at the IAS event, was also there with his wonderful wife Andrea.. along with dozens of others, some of whom are still 'under the radar'.
The workshops covered topics about cult recovery, control techniques and healing. It was the first time I'd attended such an event and a day later, I'm still processing the experience.. We shared, we learned, we listened and we healed... and for a whole day, I did not feel alone in my recovery. I would highly recommend attending similar events to anybody who has gone through a challenging cult or high control experience, and I hope I will be in a position to attend the next SAFE Portland conference later this year.
While in town, I also took a trip to the local Ideal Org, who were just wrapping up their event celebrating the 74th anniversary of Dianetics - something I would've, once upon a time, been involved organising and incredibly excited about.
Before I went up to Portland, I spent a few days in Los Angeles working on a secret project and I'm looking forward to carrying on with this before heading back to the UK. Although I have to stay tight-lipped about exactly what I'm up to, I can share that I've had the privilege spending time with both Karen de la Carriere and Jeffrey Augustine, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Mark Ebner and even managed to record a short video with Tony Ortega - check it out here if you haven't already!
https://youtu.be/dDnclANJqcE?si=juJos7n-Q81NWNTC
Although I have found a lot of my time here incredibly healing and I've experienced an overwhelming sense of community over the last few days, I'm not even half way through my trip and I've also been hard at work on this SP-ecial project I can't wait to share with you.
Later this week I'll be meeting up with more names you may be familiar with - as well as some you may not have heard. For those of you who have supported me in this journey, I want to express my gratitude for your help and thank you for the part you have played in what is certainly my most ambitious project yet.
There's a lot more to come from me over the next few days - so keep your eyes on my channel (and in your inboxes) later this week for a little behind-the-scenes look at what I've been up to. And if you'd like to contribute towards this project, just head to my wishlist on Buy Me A Coffee.
Thank you once again,
A.
