✧ Series
At Prism of Light, each series is a focused collection of microbooks that illuminates a theme through many lenses. These curated works offer a quiet space to explore healing, empowerment, mindfulness, expression, and digital safety—woven with clarity and creative reflection.
Whether you're looking for gentle insight or deep understanding, our series are designed to meet you where you are and walk beside you as you rediscover your light.
Explore the collections below—each one a prism of perspective, thoughtfully crafted to help you pause, reflect, and grow.
Coming Soon from Prism of Light…
A new kind of self-care is blooming.
Awakening Light: A Lightscape for Gentle Renewal is a digital guide crafted to help you reconnect—with yourself, with nature, and with your inner sense of peace.
Poetic reflections, nature-inspired breathwork, gentle journaling prompts, and space to soften and reflect.
It’s nourishment. A quiet place to land.
Available soon in the Lightscapes Library!
From Surviving to Thriving: Empowerment, Prevention, and Healing
While we've been publishing Reflections of Control—a series that names the quiet cruelty of manipulation, dismissal, and community complicity—our deeper focus has always been to empower.
We believe in telling the truth about abuse: how it happens, how it's hidden, and how survivors are often left carrying shame that never belonged to them. But beyond exposing harm, we are also committed to prevention, understanding, protection, and healing.
A survivor can never get back the years lost to fear, shame, or control. But they can reclaim their voice. They can learn to trust themselves again. And as a society, we can do better—we can create safer spaces, recognize red flags sooner, and stop protecting those who harm under the guise of loyalty or tradition.
The next phase of our work is about equipping individuals and communities with tools: to see clearly, act bravely, and support those who speak difficult truths. Because healing isn’t just about surviving the past—it’s about building a future where harm doesn’t go unchallenged.
"A survivor can never reclaim the years taken by abuse—the time spent in fear, silenced by manipulation, and weighed down by shame that was never theirs to carry. Those years are gone, and no apology can return them. What they can reclaim now is their power, their sense of self, and the right to heal on their own terms."
✧ Upcoming Series
🕮 Compose Beautiful Days Brushed with a Prism of Light
Rooted in our studio’s guiding phrase, this contemplative series invites you to slow down and connect with what truly matters. Each microbook offers a soft lens of clarity, beauty, and peace—supporting mindful awareness, emotional balance, and soulful expression.
A stillness in the noise. A soft light in the dark. A reminder that your day—and your life—can always begin again.
What You’ll Find in This Series:
Each microbook offers a quiet, thoughtful pause for your day. Titles may include:
The Art of Gentle Mornings
Emotional Weather
Tending Your Inner Garden
Rituals for Radiance
The Shape of Peace
Moments of Meaning
Soft Power
Rewriting the Day
Each one is designed to be read in a single sitting and returned to whenever needed.
🕮 Reflections of Control: Why Would Someone Say That?
This illuminating series explores the often-overlooked language of psychological manipulation and coercive control. Each microbook unpacks a common phrase or behavior that subtly undermines personal power—offering clarity, validation, and tools for awareness.
Because healing begins with clarity—and clarity begins with asking why.
What You’ll Find in This Series:
Each title reveals the layered meanings behind everyday words or actions that can disorient, confuse, or control. These insights can support those recovering from manipulation and seeking to reclaim their voice and autonomy.
Reflections of Control: Why Would Someone Say That?
Introduction to the Series
Some of the hardest things survivors hear don’t come from strangers—but from people they once trusted. At Prism of Light, we’ve received many messages from those trying to make sense of comments, warnings, and subtle threats that linger long after the trauma.
These aren't just personal stories—they reflect deeper patterns of manipulation, control, and silence that many survivors know all too well. And while every situation is unique, the emotional aftermath often feels universally heavy.
This series explores real questions survivors have asked—reframed with care to protect identities while offering clarity, context, and the possibility of healing. We offer these reflections not to reopen wounds, but to refract them through light, compassion, and understanding.
Why Do Protectors of the Abuser Say "I Love You" While Causing Harm?
There’s something particularly insidious when those who protect an abuser use the words "I love you." It’s not the abuser themselves making this claim, but rather those who defend, justify, or shield the abuser from the consequences of their actions. This creates a complicated emotional web for survivors: if those around you—people you trust—are saying "I love you" while enabling harm, how can you know what’s real?
When harm is wrapped in affection, it becomes harder to name. The words "I love you" come from those who are not directly inflicting harm but are complicit in enabling it. This contradiction keeps the survivor emotionally tethered. "They say they love me... maybe I’m overreacting," the survivor may think, not realizing that the affection is part of a broader strategy to keep them in line and disoriented.
Understanding the Contradiction
When someone close to the abuser says, "I love you," while ignoring or excusing the abuse, it’s not just a contradiction—it’s a manipulation in itself. These protectors often present themselves as the "good guys," offering love and affection as a shield against the truth. They may say things like, "They didn’t mean it," or "They're just going through a hard time." The message is clear: you, the survivor, are the problem for bringing up the abuse, not the one enabling it.
This contradiction makes it even more difficult for the survivor to trust their own perceptions. Love, in this context, becomes a weapon of confusion. It’s a way to silence the truth and make the survivor question their reality, especially when the ones who say "I love you" may genuinely seem to care, even if their actions prove otherwise.
How to Begin Untangling the Web
The first step toward healing is understanding that love, in its truest form, never enables harm. Those who truly care don’t protect or justify abuse. They confront it. Love that enables silence, shields the abuser, or disregards the survivor’s experience is not love—it’s manipulation.
Untangling this web means recognizing that protectors of the abuser, no matter how much they claim affection, are part of a system designed to keep the survivor in doubt, confusion, and ultimately, in harm’s way. Reclaiming autonomy begins by seeing these protective tactics for what they are: ways to control, silence, and gaslight.
Healing Means Reclaiming Your Truth
Survivors often find themselves torn, feeling affection for those who say they love them—people who are not the abuser, but still enabling the harm. This creates a complex emotional bond that can feel impossible to break. But healing begins with honoring the truth: "I love you" doesn’t mean enabling harm. Real love doesn’t ask you to remain silent or to protect someone who has hurt you.
Closing Reflection
Love should never be used as a tool of control or manipulation. When those who protect the abuser say "I love you," it’s crucial to separate the words from the actions. Healing starts when the survivor recognizes the role of the protectors in enabling harm, and they can start trusting their own experiences over the confusing messages they’ve been given. You deserve love that supports your truth, not love that asks you to deny it.
How Community Loyalty Can Enable Abuse
"How could that have happened?"
When abuse comes to light in close-knit communities, disbelief often follows—especially when the abuser is someone with a respected reputation. The question "How could that have happened?" is commonly heard, not because the community is concerned about the survivor’s experience, but because it’s hard for people to reconcile the image they have of the abuser with the reality of their actions. This disbelief is especially pronounced when the survivor is young. "How could that have happened?" is asked not just out of confusion about the abuse itself, but because of the abuser's status and the assumption that with so many people around, something should have stopped it.
But this is where the manipulation comes in: the abuser uses their position to gain access to the survivor, often asking the mother or family for help with seemingly innocent tasks like chores. This seemingly harmless request gives the abuser more opportunity to build trust and maintain the illusion of safety—enabling their control. It’s not just a matter of overlooking red flags; it’s about the community’s ability to dismiss or rationalize behavior that doesn’t align with the image of a well-liked individual.
Communities often protect their own, particularly when the abuser has a certain level of influence or respect—whether through wealth, status, or social connections. This protection manifests in ways that range from subtle dismissals to active campaigns against the victim. Gossip spreads, and the focus shifts from the harm done to the abuser's reputation, making it difficult for survivors to be heard. In some cases, even those in positions of authority—people who should act as safeguards—can be among the most reluctant to question someone held in high regard.
The phrase “How could that have happened?” reflects a larger problem in these communities—an unwillingness to confront uncomfortable truths. It suggests that the abuser’s standing in the community makes their wrongdoing unimaginable, even when the evidence is clear. This narrative serves to dismiss the survivor’s reality and protect the abuser’s public image.
When communities prioritize loyalty to an individual over truth and accountability, it enables abuse to continue, not just in this case, but in countless others. The message is clear: If someone can be shielded from consequences once, it sets a precedent for future harm. This pattern erodes the moral fabric of the community, where silence and denial become tools for maintaining comfort rather than confronting wrongdoing.
This dynamic of denial and silence only serves to protect the abuser, while the survivor is left feeling isolated and unsupported. It’s not just about the abuser’s image; it’s about the community’s unwillingness to face the damage done, both to the survivor and to the community’s sense of morality.
Healing begins when communities stop protecting the abuser's image and start validating the survivor's experience. Survivors deserve to be believed and supported—not silenced or dismissed. No one should have to endure the weight of community denial just to be heard.
"They Were Asking for It: Victim-Blaming and Its Harmful Impact"
In the world of abuse and assault, one of the most damaging attitudes that often surfaces is the notion of "they were asking for it." This sentiment, frequently used to justify harmful actions or to minimize the perpetrator's responsibility, reveals a deep-seated issue within our societal understanding of victimhood. When we ask the question of why some people believe that victims are somehow complicit in their abuse or assault, we begin to see the layers of harm caused not just to the victims, but to the wider cultural perception of abuse itself.
The Root of Victim-Blaming
At its core, the phrase “they were asking for it” is an excuse for abuse, often rooted in a belief that the victim somehow invited the harm they experienced. This could manifest in many forms—whether it’s through clothing, behavior, or actions that society deems inappropriate or provocative. The moment we begin to hold victims responsible for the abuse they face, we strip them of their agency and humanity, making them seem deserving of harm based on subjective criteria rather than objective injustice.
The truth is, no one deserves to be hurt, manipulated, or abused. Victim-blaming disregards this simple truth. It distorts the conversation around power dynamics, control, and consent, making the survivor's experience secondary to the abuser's actions. This is particularly harmful when the victim is a minor, as it shifts the focus from the perpetrator’s responsibility to the child’s behavior or appearance.
The Impact on Survivors
For those who have experienced abuse, whether physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological, hearing “they were asking for it” is a painful reminder of how deeply ingrained victim-blaming can be. Survivors may begin to question their own experiences, feel ashamed, or internalize the belief that they somehow brought the harm upon themselves. This emotional burden often leads to isolation, confusion, and self-doubt, making it even more difficult for survivors to seek help or report the abuse.
Victim-blaming also perpetuates a culture of silence. Survivors who fear judgment or disbelief are less likely to come forward, leaving abusers free to continue their behavior. This cycle reinforces the normalization of harmful behaviors, especially in communities where loyalty or power dynamics shield abusers from accountability.
The Broader Societal Consequences
Victim-blaming doesn’t only harm those directly involved in abuse cases; it also has far-reaching effects on society’s understanding of consent and accountability. When we allow victim-blaming to persist, we inadvertently protect the abuser and the culture of control that enables them. This is particularly evident in tight-knit communities where social status, reputation, or influence can overshadow the rights and dignity of the victim.
In communities that protect abusers, statements like "they were asking for it" act as a shield for those in power. Whether the abuser is a well-known figure,the culture of loyalty and protection often allows them to escape consequences. This contributes to a dangerous narrative that those with influence or status are somehow exempt from responsibility, leaving survivors to suffer in silence while their voices are drowned out.
Shifting the Narrative: Accountability, Compassion, and Support
To break free from this damaging cycle, we must challenge the victim-blaming mentality and create spaces for compassion and support. It's crucial to center the experiences of survivors, validating their feelings and ensuring they feel heard, believed, and safe. Accountability should always fall on the abuser, not the victim, and our collective focus must be on dismantling the structures that protect perpetrators rather than enabling their behavior.
Education is key. Communities must be informed about the real dynamics of abuse, from grooming tactics to power imbalances, and how these often leave victims vulnerable and manipulated. We need to prioritize trauma-informed care and support systems that empower survivors, helping them to regain control over their lives and trust in the justice system.
Conclusion: Moving Forward with Integrity
We must challenge the narrative that suggests victims of abuse, particularly minors, somehow bring harm upon themselves. It is vital that we see them for who they truly are: individuals deserving of dignity, respect, and safety. Our language and actions should reflect a commitment to ending victim-blaming and creating a society where accountability is not negotiable, regardless of the perpetrator’s status or influence.
To those who have experienced abuse, know that you are not to blame. You are not defined by the harm done to you. The responsibility for that harm lies entirely with the abuser. It’s time for all of us to stand together and say, “No more.”