spencer

spencer

  • Joined: April 18, 2023
  • Articles: 303

The Twelve Steps in the High Desert

Step 1 — Powerlessness The arroyos after monsoon Most of the year, an arroyo looks harmless. Dust, stones, a forgotten beer can, tire tracks, maybe a coyote print. Then rain falls twenty miles away and suddenly it’s a violent river.…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 10 of 10

Finding Your Home Group — Where You Belong At some point, one meeting starts to feel different. Familiar.Comfortable.Yours. That’s a home group. Not because it’s perfect—but because you keep coming back. “We aren’t a glum lot.” (p. 132) You’ll find…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 9 of 10

Online Meetings — Expanding the Room Online meetings have widened the circle. You might sit in Santa Fe and hear someone share from London, New York, or a town you’ve never heard of. The format may be different.The purpose is…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 8 of 10

AA Around the World — A Global Fellowship AA exists in more than 180 countries. Walk into a meeting abroad and you may encounter different languages, customs, and formats. But something deeper cuts through all of that: Recognition.Connection.Understanding. “We are…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 7 of 10

AA Around the Country — Same Program, Different Flavor Travel to different parts of the U.S., and you’ll notice something quickly: AA has regional personality. Some places are structured and tightly timed.Others feel loose and conversational. Some lean heavily on…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 6 of 10

Meditation & Quiet Meetings — Learning to Be Still Not every meeting is about talking. Some create space for silence, reflection, or meditation. And for many of us, that’s not easy at first. But the program points us there: “We…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 5 of 10

Post 5: Big Book Meetings — Returning to the Source In Big Book meetings, the group reads directly from Alcoholics Anonymous and reflects on it together. Same words. Different meaning, depending on the day. “Rarely have we seen a person fail who…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 4 of 10

Post 4: Step Meetings — Where Change Happens Step meetings bring the focus back to the Twelve Steps—not as theory, but as lived experience. You’ll hear honesty here.What worked. What didn’t. What took time. Because the promise isn’t perfection—it’s change. “Here…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 3 of 10

Discussion Meetings — Many Voices, One Experience Discussion meetings open the floor to shared experience. A topic is offered, and people speak from where they are—no cross-talk, no fixing, no debate. What emerges isn’t a single answer.It’s something more useful:…

Many Rooms, One Fellowship – Post 2 of 10

Speaker Meetings — Listening for the Truth Speaker meetings center on one person telling their story:what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now. For many of us, this is where something shifts. We stop comparing.We start identifying.…