SobrietyinStumptownFebruary2015
Sobriety in Stumptown www.pdxaa.com Portland Area Intergroup February 2015 [email protected] 825 NE 20th Ave, Portland, OR Volume 8, No. 2 5032238569 Tradition One: AA Unity by Editor David B The job of Portland Area Intergroup Chair is not an easy one. You’ve got to be the voice of unity when there are sometimes other, louder voices. We are lucky to have had leaders who know a thing or two about AA’s first tradition. I reached out to PAI’s new Chair Kathryn S. and past chair Anita B. to speak on the subject. Here’s what they had to say: Traditions One & Twelve by PAI Chair Kathryn S. Hello! Our Newsletter Editor David B. so graciously asked me if I would write a few th words on the First and the 12 Traditions. I try never to decline a reasonable request and I thought it was a great way to break the ice, giving you more information about me. It was also meant to be because the First Tradition has been my main focus these past few weeks, as you can see by my Chair report from the 02/02/15 Board Meeting. Yes, I believe in signs! Tradition One: “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.” For me, Tradition One is the most important. It is the needed daily reminder especially for all of those in service, and it is a true gift for the newcomer as well. 1 st UNITY : Without unity, A.A. dies. The 1 Tradition teaches us how to best live and work together as groups. It is simple. As stated in the 12 & 12, the group must survive or the individual will not. It is a beautiful paradox because it will give the individual liberty yet the awareness of great unity. The gift is that we are never alone. st I work hard to apply the 1 Tradition in all my affairs, be it my home group, relationships with sponsees, or my position on the PAI Board as your Chair. Unity is paramount and absolutely needed to best serve others. I also take the principle of unity with me in my workplace, family and in my marriage. If I remain mindful of unity and the greater good for all involved, not just my controlling will, the results are always better than what I could have planned. TRADITION TWELVE: “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” Tradition 12 protects the privacy of us all. Who we see and what we hear in the rooms of A.A. must stay there. I also believe that this Tradition is all about humility. Anonymity keeps me humble, period! It is about giving up personal distinction. In the rooms of A.A., we are not someone’s wife, husband, mom, father, offspring, employee or public figure. We are simply members of A.A., and that allows me to be me. It means I can heal by sharing, be part of a group and know that I am protected. The second half of this Tradition is placing principles before personalities. I must allow others the same anonymity. I must remove any knowledge that I have or think I have of them personally, including their time in the program, in order to hear what they have to say. By doing this, I can grow in my program and my personal life as well. Tradition One: Unity by Outgoing PAI Chair Anita B. of Milwaukee, OR Our First Tradition tells us that our common welfare should come first, and that MY personal recovery depends on AA unity. The words unity, harmony, cooperation, and accord are all words I have had to adopt in order to adapt to working with and serving others. Most of those words were learned and used in my professional life in public safety emergency communications (911 Dispatching), where I had to work as a team member. Unfortunately, they were often forgotten in my personal life. Not until 2 recovery began at age 37 did I learn about and begin to practice love and tolerance of others, starting with my immediate family. I didn’t get active in AA service and volunteering until I was 20 years sober and retired from full time employment. I joined a home group that met at my church, and after attending the meeting for a year, I made myself available for GSR. At my first Area assembly, I was bitten by the service bug and began participating in events, dances, fundraisers and workshops. Retirement allowed me to do some baking in my spare time, and taking treats to the meetings I attended earned me the moniker “the Cookie Lady” (a source of pride for me). Early on, there were red flags about some recurring character defects, like pride, ego, micromanaging, and my need for control, but I ignored them for the time being. As I rotated from my term as GSR, I made myself available for district positions, first as Treasurer, then Alt DCM, and finally as DCM. As Host Committee Chair for a local assembly, I sometimes felt as if I were herding cats, when volunteers didn’t show up, or details were overlooked, or there was discord among the committees. Several times during planning meetings for upcoming events, I disagreed with ideas for themes, logos, decorations, etc. and would get a resentment when mine were not th chosen. Hello, 4 Step! My sponsor advised me to check my motives and learn the words cooperation, compromise, and collaboration. Two words that contain the same letters are LISTEN and SILENT; I learned to use both. When I was frustrated by deadlines, or irked by those who “dropped the ball” at crucial times, I sought wise counsel from my service sponsor or other leaders with more experience. Humility, delegation, trust, respect, and encouragement became the watchwords in my toolkit for leadership. “More love; less attitude” is one of my favorite expressions, right beside “this too shall pass”. Quotable Quotes “At the same time it was falling apart it was all falling together.” “Fear is like a corrosive thread. That’s true. And I’m the one pulling the thread”.” “I have a really good life. Only…I forget that all the time.” 3 “The beautiful thing about emotional pain is that its humbling and it allows you to see the truth.” “Denying reality doesn’t change it” “There are many ways to move forward but only one way to remain still.” th “With the 11 step I am able to ask myself if I’m giving, or trading. If I’m serving others and expecting something in return I’m not really giving. I’m trading.” “Do you want to be comfortable or happy?” "Anger is fear turned outward. Depression is fear turned inward" "Today is a gift. That’s why they call it ‘the present.’" “Serenity and boredom are not synonymous.” “I’m not quite spiritually awake yet. More like spiritually groggy.” Monthly Business Meetings For details about monthly business meetings, contact the PAI Office at 5032238569. Or send your questions or concerns to [email protected] . nd Portland Area Intergroup (PAI ): Business Meeting, 2 Monday of every month, 7:00 th PM, 3123 NE 24 Ave. (St. Mary Magdalene Church), Portland. Portland Deaf Access Committee: Monthly, 2nd Sunday of every month, 6:30, The Alano Club, NW 24th & Kearney. PAI CPC (Cooperating with the Professional Community) PAI Web & Digital Committee: Quarterly meeting, next meeting: May 8th, 7:00pm, Portland Central Office 825 NE 20th Ave Basement conference room. PAI Public Information PAI Treatment Facilities PAI Bridging the Gap PAI Corrections PAI Newsletter st th Dist 9 : 1 Wed, 6:30 PM, 24 and Kearney, Portland 4 Dist 10 : Last Mon, 7:00 PM, 12945 Beaverdam Rd., West Side Service Cntr, Beaverton Dist 11 : Last Thu, 7:00 PM, “URS” Club, Portland st Dist 12 : 1 Tue, 6:30 PM, 12x12 Club, 7035 NE Glisan, Portland st th Dist 15 : 1 Wed, 6:45 PM, 710 6 St., Oregon City st th Dist 18 : 1 Sat, 9:30 AM, 215 N 6 St., St. Helens st Dist 23 : 1 Tue, 6:00 PM, Emmanuel Presbyterian, 19200 SW Willamette Dr., West Linn st Dist 24 : 1 Thu, 6:15 PM, 2800 SE Harrison St., Portland nd nd Dist 26 : 2 Sun, 5:00 PM, St Charles Church, 5310 NE 42 Ave., Portland st Dist 27 : 1 Mon, 7:00 PM, 11631 SE Linwood Ave., St. Paul’s Methodist, Milwaukie nd Dist 31 : 2 Tue, 7:00 PM, 937 NE Jackson School Rd., Hillsboro rd Dist 34 : 3 Sat, 5:00 PM, 485 Portland Ave., Gladstone nd th Dist 35 : 2 & 4 Sat, 7:00 PM, 18926 SW Shaw St., Suite A, Beaverton nd Dist 36 : 2 Thu, 6:00 PM, 2025 SW Vermont St., Portland nd Dist 37 : 2 Tue, 6:30 PM, 29775 SW Town Center Loop East, Wilsonville Committee News We have several committee positions available. Portland Area Intergroup needs your help. Working on a committee is excellent 12th Step service work. If you are interested in being on any Portland Area Intergroup committee, send an email to pdxaa.com with "COMMITTEE INTEREST" in the subject field. Or, just click on Service on the Intergroup website. Intergroup committees carry the message of recovery to the stillsuffering alcoholic. Please help yourself and others. Sign up. Thank you. Cooperating with the Professional Community and Public Information : The two committees are working together to bring the message of recovery to the public and to the professional community — healthcare, clergy, legal, educators, social workers, and others. For meeting details, send email to: [email protected] , Subject Line CPC or PI. Bridging the Gap (BTG): provides a onetime temporary contact for people transitioning from a treatment center to AA meetings. BTG meets the third Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Portland Intergroup Office basement, located at 825 NE 20th Ave, Suite 200, Portland. "We Bridge the Gap so alcoholics leaving treatment don't have to walk alone across that scary gap between the beginning of recovery in treatment and the continued recovery in AA.” Please contact the PAI office via phone, 5032238569, or email [email protected], if you are interested. Corrections: Our current focus is to carry the AA message to youths in the Multnomah County Detention Center. We need many volunteers to help bring AA meetings to the facility on a regular basis. Please contact the PAI office via phone, 5032238569 or email [email protected], if you are interested. 5 Newsletter ( Sobriety in Stumptown ): The committee for the very publication you are now reading is looking for members. Send an email of interest to [email protected]. Events: The Events Committee needs committee members. Send an email to [email protected] for more information. Become Published Submit your article, poem, or artwork to Sobriety in Stumptown . Deadline: 3/01/15 Send articles of 1000 words or fewer to: [email protected] Step Two “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” Tradition One “For Our Group Purposes, there is but one authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.” Serenity Prayer “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Reprinted with permission of AA World Services, Inc. 6
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