If you grew up in evangelical purity culture during the ‘80s and ‘90s, you were given a strict blueprint for romance and marriage—one that emphasized purity, gender roles, and the idea of a "God-ordained" soulmate. But as culture has evolved, many of those teachings have been challenged, reshaped, or outright abandoned. This post unpacks what you were taught, what we now understand, and how relationships are approached differently today.

As relationships deepen and become more real, the safety that should feel comforting can sometimes feel unsettling. If you’ve spent years tracking others for potential harm or disconnection, genuine security might trigger a sense of waiting for something to go wrong. It can also be disorienting when you’re no longer the one driving emotional growth in your relationships—when others start meeting you in vulnerability without you having to push for it. If your nervous system isn’t used to resting in connection, the shift can feel like losing control.

The fusion of capitalism and Christian work ethics has long shaped labor expectations for lower-income workers, reinforcing narratives of hard work as virtue while discouraging systemic change. From the Protestant work ethic to modern-day opposition to unions and welfare, white upper-class Christians have used religious morality to justify economic hierarchies. This article unpacks how these forces intersect and continue to influence labor, wealth, and social policies.

The cultural landscape I was raised in—Midwestern Evangelical purity culture, elder millennial disillusionment, and the transition from a rigid to a fluid world—created the perfect storm for depersonalization. From being taught to distrust my body to witnessing the collapse of societal promises, my sense of self was conditioned to feel fragmented. Understanding how these generational forces contributed to my experience has helped me step out of panic and toward reconnection.

The world you grew up in isn’t the world you live in now. From mental health awareness to gender fluidity, from the collapse of hustle culture to the rise of AI, the way we define identity, success, and reality has radically changed. If you were raised in Midwestern Evangelical purity culture, these shifts can feel especially disorienting. This is a look at how core cultural beliefs have evolved—and what it means for you.

Culture has shifted dramatically over the past few decades, from our understanding of mental health and gender to how we navigate work, relationships, and technology. If you’re feeling out of sync with modern trends, it’s not just nostalgia—it’s the world evolving at an unprecedented pace. Here’s a breakdown of key societal shifts and what they mean for you.

It’s natural to fear that younger generations will see you as outdated, irrelevant, or even laughable. But this fear isn’t about them—it’s about whether you believe it yourself. Every generation thinks the one before it is cringe until they, too, become the older generation. Aging doesn’t erase your relevance; it deepens your perspective. The real power lies in embracing that shift rather than shrinking from it.

Your sense of self isn’t a fixed thing—it’s more like a river, constantly moving, shaped by experiences, emotions, and time. The more you become aware of this flow, the more you realize that change isn’t a loss of identity but part of its natural course.

If you've already questioned reality, human minds, and the illusion of control, you might think you've hit all the big existential revelations. But paradigm shifts tend to keep coming. From realizing the self isn’t a fixed entity to questioning free will, these realizations can be unsettling, liberating, or both.

Shadow work is the process of uncovering and integrating the parts of yourself that you’ve suppressed—whether out of fear, shame, or the need to fit in. These hidden aspects don’t disappear; they influence your reactions, relationships, and sense of self in unconscious ways. By exploring them, you can move toward greater authenticity and self-awareness.