“…we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go.” Basic Text, p. 33 ❖ Over-sensitivity, insecurity, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction. Many of us carry these with us into recovery; our fears of inadequacy, rejection, and lack of directionContinue reading “The Masks Have To Go – Just For Today July 24th”
Category Archives: Immaturity
Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist but in the ability to start over.—F. Scott Fitzgerald Many situations require fierce persistence, but in others we need to start over. Early in recovery, most of us haven’t had a good way of knowing the difference. Perhaps with every challenge we tried harder and heldContinue reading “Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd”
I Didn’t Want to Want to … Grapevine Article June 1960 By Warden Clinton Duffy
San Quentin’s former warden tells how Prison Groups offer alcoholic inmates a means for recovery from the disease that is often directly responsible for criminal records ONE OF the hundreds of alcoholic inmates who appear before the California Adult Authority (Parole Board), for fixing of sentence and possible parole consideration, said to me: “I couldContinue reading “I Didn’t Want to Want to … Grapevine Article June 1960 By Warden Clinton Duffy”
To Value You More – Grapevine Article April 2021 By S.J.
One day in her Step study group, an oldtimer discovers something brand-new about Step Four. Proof that the learning and growing never stops In my Monday evening Women’s Step Study, our small group’s routine is to go around the room, giving each person the opportunity to read a paragraph or share or simply introduce herselfContinue reading “To Value You More – Grapevine Article April 2021 By S.J.”
Changing The Way We See In Our 4th Step – Practice These Principles Ray A.
How can we do an accurate inventory if our vision is distorted? And what if we began our inventory with a greater awareness and curiosity about how our disturbances like our resentments, fears, guilt and shame might be distorting our judgments of people, places, and things including ourselves? What if we were not all orContinue reading “Changing The Way We See In Our 4th Step – Practice These Principles Ray A.”
The Ego & The AA – Grapevine Article February 2009 By Greg M.
Self-centeredness can be the most baffling of character defects The pain and misery and horrible loneliness I experienced prior to my first meeting, sixteen years ago, finally convinced me of the need to honestly look at my drinking. But that battle and every one since has been hard-fought. At times it seems to take aContinue reading “The Ego & The AA – Grapevine Article February 2009 By Greg M.”
Letter To The Mother Of An Alcoholic – Language Of The Heart By Bill W 1944
Dear Mother of “J.”: I cannot tell how poignantly I am stirred by the letter you wrote the Grapevine about your alcoholic son. Just ten years ago my own mother, after years of frantic bewilderment, lost hope. Long a chronic problem drinker, I had come to the jumping-off place. A very good doctor had pronouncedContinue reading “Letter To The Mother Of An Alcoholic – Language Of The Heart By Bill W 1944”
A New Way Of Looking At Life – Grapevine Article April 1981 By D.J.
ONE AFTERNOON a few months ago, I found myself reviewing the story of AA co-founder Bill W.’s encounter with cosmic consciousness in Towns Hospital. I had come across a well-detailed account of the incident and had not proceeded far into it before I began to experience feelings of envy. After all, I reasoned, why shouldn’tContinue reading “A New Way Of Looking At Life – Grapevine Article April 1981 By D.J.”
How Is My Now? – Grapevine Article August 2001 By Barb G.
Well, I’m a half-century old now, and I have decided to face the music and become a grown-up. That word was uttered during my youth with such reverence: “When I get big enough, I can sit at the dining room table with the grown-ups,” we children would say wistfully at family gatherings. And I supposeContinue reading “How Is My Now? – Grapevine Article August 2001 By Barb G.”
Most Spiritual Experiences Are Gradual – Grapevine Article March 1954 By Dr. Harry Tiebout
In this article Dr. Tiebout continues his observations on “the fundamental phenomena which go on when an alcoholic responds favorably to Alcoholics Anonymous.” The article describes how the influences which most AAs recognize as spiritual “should release the positive potential which resides in the unconscious.” Dr. Harry M. Tiebout was a psychiatrist and an earlyContinue reading “Most Spiritual Experiences Are Gradual – Grapevine Article March 1954 By Dr. Harry Tiebout”