HuskyPup

And it was really nice. Traffic was kinda crazy, but I'm glad to have gone. Small, only 10 people, about, but very conversational. Happy to have found it! Different format than any AA meeting I've ever gone to.

SillyString

Interesting, HP! I'm curious what it was like?

HuskyPup

Well, it was very polite and non-judgemental. In the beginning, one person read the traditions, and that was all the reading of things that went on. Then, we went around and shared things we had to say. After that, we passed the hat, and then, it was open discussion, conversation style. I really liked it. I'm gonna go back, and hope I can find more meetings of this format. It felt really warm and open, and I felt like I had a lot more chances to actually communicate, and to hear others, which was a lot different from my past experiences. So it gave me some hope for social support! Being a very extroverted sort, I find this kind of thing really helps, though I'm not one for overly rigid structure and repetition. What I liked about this meeting was I didn't feel like a bored/bad kid in church

Anna

I'm glad you've found a new way to further support your recovery.

Shoebox62

Sounds just like what I'm looking for, too. Do you mind me asking where you're located Husky? I understand if you don't want to answer, just wondering if you're in my neck of the woods (the D.C. area). I'm glad you found something that speaks to you. Keep up the battle!

HuskyPup

No worries! In the DC/Baltimore area as well, here. This was a meeting in Bethesda, MD, just outside of DC. There's 3 such meetings in the DC area, and one in Baltimore, though that one seems a lot more structured. You can go onto the AA site and enter 'Agnostic', or send me a private message; one is in northern VA, and the other right in DC. So far, I've only gone to the Baltimore and Bethesda ones.

Hevyn

I'd never heard of those HP. I'm glad you found it!

venuscat

This is absolutely fascinating to me....I love the idea that AA can still work for those who are agnostic.

I looked up the website, and it's really interesting.
Thank you for sharing this Husky! ♥

Love V xx

letustrythis123

I'm glad that you found that. There are only two things that sometimes irk me here. One is the passive aggressiveness that sometimes comes across on topics as in the person thinks a topic is unworthy.

The second is the assumption that many people seem to think everyone is not only religious, but Christian. I see a lot of references to Christian prayers, praying for people, turning to the Lord, etc. I'm not talking about sig lines either, I'm talking about out and out assumptions that people adhere to a faith. Alcoholism doesn't only pick christians.

Tamerua

Is this through AA? Or is this Lifering? Sounds interesting.

HuskyPup

Through AA. Though it had a much different structure. What I liked is that everyone had a lot more time to communicate. So often I had gone to meetings where there wasn't any time for that, and having come for that reason, I'd leave feeling sad. So this was perfect, for me. The first half was just people 'sharing' and no cross-talk' the second half was conversational. It really seemed to make people open up, and also, it was interesting in that there were three new people, including me. We even talked about our 'beliefs', and some of us were atheists, some spiritual in their own way, one Jewish, one Christian...yet we all got along, and didn't get derailed by differences. In fact, it seemed healthy to discuss these matter, and air them out. By the end, we also laughed a good deal

(And no, nobody spiked the coffee!)

So I'm doing pretty good...I think this is day 6? It's hard to count precisely, as the last time I drank, it went from one night, sorta into the next day...but it's coming up on a week, here.

Tamerua

Thanks for sharing that! I know that there are Lifering meetings around here (Tampa area) but I will look on our site for agnostic meetings.

And congrats on 6 days!

wpainterw

I have gone to the Bethesda and D.C. meetings for years (about 25) and have greatly benefitted from both. My impression is that Agnostic Atheist meetings are often found in large, metropolitan cities and are relatively scarce in rural areas. I feel accepted at such meetings even though I tell them that I cannot claim to be a card carrying Agnostic or Atheist and confess that I sometimes relapse into fits of spirituality (even though I do not admit to dogmatic Christianity (to paraphrase Groucho Marx who said that he would never join a club which had such low standards as to accept him as a member)). There's an International Convention planned for AA Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinkers out in Santa Monica for this coming November.
See my latest post on my earlier thread devoted to this.





W.

Aellyce

I also just looked into these types of meetings a couple days ago! Am currently on vacation out of town but would like to find some sort of sober, recovery- and conversation-focused gathering when I get back home. Glad you posted your experience because I was wondering how these Agnostic AA meetings might be... Please let us know how it goes if you attend more.

Thanks again for posting, HuskyPup, and good luck!

HuskyPup

Thanks! I plan to go back next Wednesday. Maybe I can get a weekend group started up here in Baltimore. The main 'problem' with these is trying to get to them due to work, but once I do, they feel comfortable and helpful. I'll have to look at how one might start an atheist/agnostic chapter; I have some ideas for spaces we might use. In churches, ironically enough. :P