Journaling
Most of my life I have been an inveterate journalist, recording the ups and downs, the various vicissitudes, of my often unpredictable and at times haphazard life. I started journaling in earnest during the summer of 1966, after flunking out of my first graduate school, a consequence of excessive drinking. It was just before I entered the US Army as…
When I Decided to Stay Sober
It was the overcast evening of November 3, 1972. I ran screaming out onto 11th Street at the corner of Waverley Place in Greenwich Village from the basement office of Dr. Wolf, my wife’s therapist. I was wild-eyed. Most distraught. Raging. Heartbroken. In a panic…
A Tribute to AA Agnostica
Today closes one of the most exciting chapters in the recent history of the secular AA Fellowship, also known as We Agnostics, since the Santa Monica Convention in 2014, We Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinkers. Today, June 15, 2015, is the last day that a new post will be put up on AA Agnostica, which is the fifth anniversary from when…
Pacific Region Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly
Over the weekend of March 4 – 6, 2016, I had the privilege of attending my second Pacific Region Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly (PRAASA) at the Spokane, WA convention center. It was attended by some 1500 members involved in the General Service work of Alcoholics Anonymous throughout the Pacific region…
My Experience as a GSR
Recently, I completed a two-year commitment as the GSR for my home group, Beyond Belief, in Portland, Oregon. It was my first experience in AA General Service above the group level since my first decade in recovery. It was also a most rewarding and gratifying experience, a boon for my long-term recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous…
WACYPAA, XIX
On the weekend of December 17—20, 2015, my wife, Jill, and I attended the 19th Western Area Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was held at the Doubletree Hotel near the Oregon Convention Center in Portland with some 2100 AA members in attendance…
Compassion
Nick hobbled into the AA meeting, shuffling his cane, serenely drunk again, lobotomized by Ripple. He gazed about him, quick-moving darts of blurry eyes, as if uncomprehending fully what he saw…
Resentment, Rage and Recovery
AA orthodoxy depicts an especially dire portrayal of the negative consequences of resentment and rage for those of us addicted to alcohol, and who seek recovery through AA. Bill Wilson, AA’s co-founder primarily responsible for the AA canon of beliefs about alcoholism and recovery, doesn’t mince words regarding the negative impact of resentment and raging anger for…