My own interpretations of the Twelve Steps for recovery. Some original thought but mostly borrowed wisdom.
I’ve found tremendous satisfaction and purpose in working with other addicts within a secular Twelve Step framework. We’re pioneers, in a sense, embarking into unknown territories together. At every turn, we’re met with a recovery challenge and ask ourselves “How do we interpret this particular Step or spiritual principle from a secular humanist perspective?” Books […]
Gratitude is a core concept in recovery circles. It’s one of those things a sober person is encouraged to demonstrate. For those who work a secular program, the concept of ‘gratitude’ merits closer examination. If you have migrated from a traditional Twelve Step recovery into a secular program, it’s hard to shake some of the […]
When the Twelve Steps were created in the 1930s, the founders didn’t know as much about the disease of alcoholism as we do today. But they understood how alcoholism feels and how it destroys lives. They also found a way to help people recover that has worked for almost 90 years. Back then, alcoholics experienced […]
When the Twelve Steps were first formulated in the 1930s, its founders didn’t have the understanding of many aspects of alcoholism and the human condition that we have today. Nevertheless, they did have a very accurate and intimately personal understanding of the experience of alcoholism, its destructive progression, and a nascent grasp on a very […]
One of my goals here is to sift through traditional Twelve Step recovery concepts and make the language and ideas more palatable for agnostics, free-thinkers, atheists, and non-believers who, like me, are in recovery from addiction. I also work stuff out in my mind as I write, with my first draft often becoming my published […]
Making amends is about owning-up for bad behaviour that hurt someone else. It’s about looking them right between the eyes and acknowledging “I did exactly this, and you bore the cost of my wrongdoing.” In the Secular Twelve Steps, making amends is Step Nine, the final stop along the journey of ‘cleaning-up the wreckage of […]
I haven’t felt the urge to post here in almost a month. I have been writing, nevertheless, focused on working the Secular Twelve Steps with my sponsor. I’ve also been regularly attending peer-support meetings, getting out of my cocoon and rejoining the human race. The purpose of this post is to talk about how I […]
In recovery, I am ambivalent, perhaps indifferent, to the matter of whether or not God exists. If the gift of recovery is available only to believers, and therefore unattainable to non-believers, does this not make for a punishing and cruel God? More importantly, does it not also place limits on God, since God’s grace is […]
Power can be understood as having two aspects: power-over and power-with. Power-over others arises from and unequal capacity for effective action and access to resources. This could involve individuals or groups holding the means and influence to control the actions of others. Of interest in this discussion is power that comes from within a person […]
The Peace of Wild Things 