Abuse Hides in the Dark. Turn on Your Light.

Kellie Jo Holly


  • ‘You Hate Men!’ Is Diversion . . . and Retraumatization

    ‘You Hate Men!’ Is Diversion . . . and Retraumatization

    Telling me that my rape is the source of our problems is a diversion. It turns me away from whatever Will is doing and causes me to examine myself. By blaming my past for our current problems is also wrong. Will blames me for our problems without taking any responsibility for his behavior.

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  • Trophy Wife – Side Effects of Abuse

    Trophy Wife – Side Effects of Abuse

    The image you see here shows my state of mind soon after our wedding. The colors show brightly enough, the flowers are rather pretty. But the women undergo sad transitions. The signs of abuse are here, hidden by brightly colored flowers.

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  • Inspiration to Leave Your Abusive Relationship: Liberty or Death?

    My Thanksgiving weekend would not be complete without remembering our great country and its roots in the ultimate desire for freedom. Of course, I am grateful that almost 240 years ago, brave men and women fought for America’s freedom from the abuse and oppression of the British crown; I am also grateful that I fought…

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  • Overcome Anxiety and Fear: Exorcise The Demon Meditation

    Overcome Anxiety and Fear: Exorcise The Demon Meditation

    For example, when I admitted to myself that the demon in my marriage was ABUSE, the abuse held less power over me. The demon flared up in a fiery attempt to terrify me, yet, after its temper tantrum, I stood strong and continued to call it by name. Will thinks I demonized him, but I…

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  • Shutting Up for Many Reasons: Some Valid, Some Not

    Shutting Up for Many Reasons: Some Valid, Some Not

    Last year, I tapered off from this blog because I was afraid of what would come of it in court. Nothing came of it in court. This blog was either irrelevant or the battle didn’t get nasty enough for his attorney to use it. Or maybe there was nothing to be said about it. Will’s…

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  • I Appreciate You

    I Appreciate You

    Lately I’ve been thinking about you, the readers of this blog. You readers are my core; without you, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to continue the leaving process after it begun. Without you, I think I may have resigned myself to more years of abuse – maybe I would have stayed until I…

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  • Pride Revisited

    Pride Revisited

    Last year, I wrote a story called Pride and Greed about how those two sins work together to create an abusive relationship. But now that I think about it, the story is not quite right. I mean, the story helped me to understand how Will and I “happened”, but it’s off somehow. The story is…

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  • Promise Me A Rose Garden

    Promise Me A Rose Garden

    A few months after I’d left Will, I had worked through the grief stage and moved into such a euphoric state that I thought it would never end. I thought to myself, “So this is what I’ve been missing all these years!” and with a smile and artsy flourish of my wrist, I chucked my…

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  • You Can’t Make Your Abuser Abuse You

    You Can’t Make Your Abuser Abuse You

    You can’t make your abuser abuse you. The responsibility for abusing falls directly on the shoulders of the perpetrator, not the victim. Yet so many victims (me too!) want to somehow make the abuse “our fault”. I think that I wanted to accept responsibility for the abuse because if I caused it, then I could…

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  • Depression After Leaving Abusive Relationship: Spiraling

    Depression After Leaving Abusive Relationship: Spiraling

    Depression today has the same purpose as it had during my abusive relationship: to dull the good, feel the bad, and then try to fix me. But I’m not broken. My brain chemistry is broken. Domestic violence and abuse broke my brain.

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