When I first started going to meetings I saw they had a pamphlet called "the loner: staying clean in isolation"
I was elated ~ I wouldn't have to go to meetings and be around people!
Turns out the pamphlet was talking about if you were in a remote area where NA really had no presence & you were corresponding with a sponsor and addicts in another area.
These days I smile when an addict (or alcoholic) comes into the rooms and says that they are a loner, or they don't trust people, or that they have social anxiety, or that they find it hard to open up to other people. ~ We think that we are unique & different.
I've got news for you. ~ When you go to a meeting you're in a room full of people who have a difficult time with others & social situations. It takes time to feel like you fit in & belong, but I can tell you that the bonds that I have with some of the people there have become stronger than any others that I have had.
Wanting to wait until you are clean and feel a bit better to start going to meetings is a bit like wanting to wait to go to the gym until you have lost weight and put on some muscle. ~ Don't feel bad, I didn't like the idea either.
And yes, atheists can practice the steps just fine.
The reason I would say (in my experience) that you would do well to get guidance with the steps is that it takes someone who has been where you are and who has found a way out to guide you through the process.