snowflakes and the First Tradition
my Al-Anon home group had a First Tradition meeting today. for those who are not familiar with 12-step programs, the First Tradition of Al-Anon is "Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends on unity."
the whole concept of 12-step recovery is that you work your recovery with the group and not by yourself. you cannot recover without hearing the experience, strength, and hope of other members, and sharing your story, and getting feedback from others outside of meetings. to recover in isolation simply doesn't work.
the 12 steps of recovery are steps that we use to work our recovery individually, the twelve traditions we use to work our recovery in groups, and the twelve concepts we use to work our recovery in megagroups such as organizations and nations. all of the tools are done with the belief and under the authority of a Higher Power as each of us chooses to define her/him/it.
going back to the snowflake analogy (i'm so happy that i found that website!),it is as if everyone in the group is a snowflake in a snowfall. each of us is unique and individual, as no two snowflakes are alike, but without all of us snowflakes united as a snowfall, we are just meaningless drops of water, instantly melted and absorbed.
i feel this sentiment very strongly in my real-time groups and my real-time friends in my provincial hometown of Brooklyn, NY, Fiji (at the moment.) i feel this sentiment less strongly here only because there is no live contact with almost all of the people that i have met at Strokenet. because we cannot see each other face to face, and cannot speak to each other, and cannot be in the same room with each other, it is easier for people to never really know each other as more than pixels on a screen, miscalculations of personalities to be made, group dynamics to get extremely strange, and minor misunderstandings to be blown up into major witch-hunting expeditions.
this is too bad, and too sad.
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