AA and Cyber Recovery

[CarolD]

Hi Everyone...

At the AA International Convention 2000 Internet Recovery
was the topic of a symposium.
There was standing room only in a very large room!
On line AA members were encouraged to
carry the AA message and information to sites.

And then....Let others decide if AA is for them.

Do you think we..as sober AA members...are doing this?

[Tazman53]

An excellent question Carol, this being the only board I am presently reading and posting on I would say yes.

One advantage I see with posting on the internet is that people who are curious can simply read what AA members say, they can read answers to questions asked by others.

An AA member could post something today on this very board that a month or 2 from now could be the very thing that brings a fellow alcoholic into the rooms of AA and into a new life of HAPPY sobriety.

Carol I guess that in the long run the internet could wind up bringing more people into AA then any other media type. Alcoholics when still drinking it seems to me would be far more comfortable initially going onto the internet and remain invisible while learning all that AA has to offer and also to learn the truth about AA and not what some folks speculate it to be.

[fraankie]

well, the internet helps
but
the only meeting is a real meeting


best
fraankie

[miss communicat]

as Tazman described, it did carry AA's message to me before I was comfortable going to meetings.

I hope to give it back by carrying the message of hope and healing through sobriety whether that is online or on the street.

[scootinbabe]

it has certainly helped me. i think SR is a vital part of my support system and the AA threads and much that is said here echoes AA. i do go to meetings but have small kids and can only make a few a week, but i make a poiint in coming here daily if only to post in don't quit. i try to represent the reality of aa.

now that i think about it, the first time i lurked on an aa thread was probably 7-8 years ago. wanted to know what the 12 steps was...even before i could recognize that i was alcoholic. thought i just had an occasional issue with drinking (pah!).

i personally think the internet is a vital tool to any communication program. think of the many who can access it no matter where they live and under what circumstances they're living.

[CarolD]

Hmmm..I have been using recovery sites for almost 15 years
as a great supplement to my F2F program.

I had been sober for several years when I came on line.

I find it very interesting to see members who are
soley using recovery sites...and staying happily sober.

For me..I have learned to be caucious to not down
play their progress.
I can open AA doors but
I sure can't push anyone in!


What an awesome positive force cyber recovery is!!

[barb dwyer]

how tru, Carol!

I dunno ... I prefer the 'real deal' ... there's an alchemy that happens in the meetings we have here. It's a real live kick in the Spiritual pants sometimes. I go to meetings to charge my Spirit batteries, and to be with the people I love. I go to two a day at least five out of seven days a week.
I am on here most all night ... but after meetings.
At the same time - I have received plenty of good fellowship here: made new friends, earned others, and enjoy reading about recovery in quite a few different modes occurring elsewhere on this site as well.

I like to use this area/stream/whatever more like the AA tradition, though.
I get a sense of security here that I don't necessarily get on the others.
There's a respect for AA right here that doesn't necessarily exist on the other streams/sections ... and since AA is what saved my life ... I prefer here.

This is definitely my 'home' thread.

[Grasshopper]

whenever,and wherever an alcoholic is in need of help i want to reach out with the AA hand.The vehical that i do this ,---personanly---- ,for me is a non-issue.Be it on-line,at the store,at work wherever.\And yet there is something to be said,when i look into the eyes of another alcoholic and say to them i am alcoholic.There is something to be said,when i share,face to face with another.I too had been sober for years before comming on-line.Its a great supplement for me.But i know that i dont know the hows,in what ways,or anything of how another will recieve the message.God works in many ways,and mysteries ways.When another alocholic gets it,recieves the message,thats whats important.the bottom line.That they get it,and onto the road to recovery.
Thanks for letting me share,
my opinion....smile...

[Tazman53]

I love the online, the sharing and the ability to re-read what some one has said. That being said, I will always go to meetings, there is no substitute for the following:

Hugs
Smiles
Laughter
Tears
A twinkle in ones eyes
Watching someone grow
Converstion before and after
Coffee
The love that is felt just being there
Emotion in a voice
The fear in a newbies face picking up that first chip
The pride in that same persons face picking up that 30 day chip

If the internet brings one person to sobriety then typing a million words will be worth it.

[best]

I feel that the internet allows people to open up more then they would in a f2f and for that reason...more gets shared.
The stepping out of the darkness into the spotlight that a f2f brings about is the one thing the internet can't bring about. The truth does set us free and the accountability that a f2f brings us to is how the truth sets us free.

[Astro]

I love meetings and the Fellowship, but I can't be at a meeting 24/7. Contributing on SR has been a great way for me to add to my recovery while I'm at work. Those free moments in time can get the "stinking thinking" going, and sharing my ESH on SR has taken that free time away.

The more we share the message the better.

[Tazman53]

Well said Astro, "You can't keep it unless you give it away!"