If your true thoughts and feelings were put on display in a lineup of Jehovah’s Witnesses, would your own parents be able to pick you out? Like so many, Jarvis knew that who he was and who he was expected to be were not necessarily congruent. He found himself living for others because he just wanted to make his parents proud, but in the end he came to realize that when everything broke down, they didn’t even know their own son. Unlike them, he came to the defense of a gay friend, he struggled to judge people with the harsh judgment of the cult, and ultimately he stood up for himself, a self that nobody ever knew.

You can find Jarvis on Instagram @jarvis_tha_artist The song that Jarvis chose to represent his journey is What’s Normal Anyway by Miguel.

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You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.