Thoughts on The Giving Tree Through My Eyes as an Adoptee

Good morning, friends & followers,

I just dropped a new episode titled "Thoughts on The Giving Tree Through My Eyes as an Adoptee," and this one cuts deep.

If you were read this book as a child like I was, you might have thought it was sweet… even noble. But what if I told you it was one of the first stories that taught me to disappear? That it wrapped self-abandonment, codependency, and emotional starvation in a shiny bow and called it love?

As an adoptee, The Giving Tree wasn’t just a book. It was a blueprint. One that mirrored everything I was conditioned to believe: you’re valuable only when you’re giving parts of yourself away.

Take a listen, let me know what you think!

Closing Invitation to Listeners:

Before we close, I want to open the door for you to step into this conversation with me.

If you were handed The Giving Tree as a child, like I was, you might still be untangling the damage it caused, the way it dressed up self-sacrifice as love, the way it taught us to give and give until there was nothing left.

I want to hear from you.

What did this book teach you about love, worth, giving, or boundaries?

Did it echo the same silent rules you were expected to live by as an adoptee, or someone expected to be grateful just for being taken in?

This space is sacred. It’s for us.

If you feel called, drop your truth below.

Your story might be the very thing someone else needs to feel seen and less alone.

Let’s keep holding space for each other, especially in the places the world told us to stay quiet. I hope you’ll take a listen and sit with these reflections. Then, tell me:

What did The Giving Tree teach you about love? About giving? About being “good”?

Did it comfort you, or did it prepare you for a life of people-pleasing and silence?

Let’s talk about it. Right here. In the comments.

With fire and truth,
Pamela