🎭 “Move On”

The Silencing We’re Supposed to Accept

There it was. The comment. Veiled in politeness, dressed in emotional detachment, delivered with just enough vagueness to avoid accountability. But the message was clear:

“Move on.”

Not in those exact words, of course. That would have been too obvious. It came laced with implication. A subtle nudge to forget, to let go, to get over it. It came from the one people like to call “the good one.” The ”brother” who, at least outwardly, wasn’t part of the power plays or gaslighting. The one who didn’t throw the first stone, but may have helped clean up the mess afterward and pretended it never happened.

But here’s what these silencing phrases fail to recognise:

You don’t get to destroy someone’s professional life, or be complicit in that destruction, and then ask them to move on.

You don’t get to sit comfortably in the aftermath while the person you harmed is still picking up pieces.

You don’t get to rewrite the narrative just because accountability makes you uncomfortable.

“Move on” is the language of those who benefit from your silence.

It’s not advice. It’s a command.

And it’s a tactic. One meant to protect reputations, not relationships.

What I’m doing here, with this newsletter, with my memoir, with my truth, isn’t about clinging to pain.

It’s about refusing to let injustice be quietly filed away and forgotten.

It’s about holding up a mirror to the systems and people who would rather bury the evidence.

And to anyone reading this who’s ever been told to “move on” before you were ready,before you got answers, before you got justice,know this:

You’re not bitter. You’re brave.

You’re not stuck. You’re steady.

And your refusal to be silent is exactly what they fear most.

🛠 Reckoning Room Recommends

This week’s tools, reads, and resonant truths:

🔍 Article:

“What Is Gaslighting Abuse?” – Newport Institute

A clear, accessible breakdown of how gaslighting works. Covers common tactics like denial, deflection, blame-shifting, and trivialising emotions.

If you’ve ever been made to question your memory, your feelings, or your reality, this one will hit home.

→ Read it here

“Telling someone to move on is often code for ‘I don’t want to be reminded of what I did.’”

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