Which cult are you a part of?

I believe that cults exist on a spectrum. As Amanda Montell and Isa Medina argue in their podcast, Sounds Like a Cult, cults might be generally innocuous (like the cult of Trader Joe’s), or they might be “Get The Fuck Out” level, like NXIVM. But all cults cater to our very human desire to feel like we’re a part of something, to feel like we matter, and I’ll never tire of thinking (or writing) about them.

Every single summer stock theater I interned at in my twenties was culty as hell. High school band camp was culty. My literature master’s program was culty. I’ve attended culty mommy and me classes. When Brett and I took our first dog (who was a Norwich terrier) to a Norwich terrier meet-up in Central Park, THAT WAS DEFINITELY CULTY. My point is that we’re all part of cults and hopefully we’re mostly joining cults that aren’t explicitly harmful to ourselves or others.

Recently, I came to the shocking realization that my overall wellbeing would be negatively impacted if a certain cult ceased to exist.