On Shiny Happy People...and 1 Practice I Use to Process Trauma

Thoughts on Shiny Happy People and using creative writing to process trauma

TW: spiritual abuse, CSA

I’m going to be honest with you all:

It’s taken me so long to address Shiny Happy People because it resonated with me deeply as a person who grew up in white fundamentalist evangelicalism—not technically a part of the IBLP, but very much next door to its school of thought.

Additionally, I’m an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and on that front, the docuseries also struck a chord with my own experience, so I was trying to figure out if/how/when I’d share my own story, which I’ve been praying about sharing for a long time.

One day, when the time is right, I hope to tell more of that story—the story I alluded to in this post about my breakup with purity culture. But I’m not ready today because I’m listening to my body.

So instead, I will link to “In the Shadow of the Oak Tree,” a fiction piece I wrote several months ago about the themes in my own story and in the stories of the Duggars and so many others.

I chose fiction to write about these heavy topics because it allows us as humans to explore the complex themes of our lives in a safe environment.

In a spiritual practice sort of way, imagination—writing and telling stories—helps us process and heal from pain.

And for today, that’s enough.

So today, I write to the survivors: no matter how much of your story you feel you want to share, you are enough, you are valid, and you are a survivor. 

In Wonder,

Kandi Zeller (she/her)

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Website: kandizeller.com

Instagram: @kandi.zeller