A few weeks ago I was the opening speaker for the Tri City Area Conference in Petersburg, VA. They recorded and made a CD of my share which they kindly gave me a copy of.
Should or shouldn't I share it on this site, and if so, should or shouldn't I let it be known here that it is a share by the founder and webmaster of MIP, or just leave that off the intro, and just post it as a share by John F.?
I am just not sure if people would like to hear the story of the person who started this site, or just the story of a drunk that got sober.
Either way I'm okay with what the majority share with me here on this post. Thats what I will do.
A.A. TRADITIONS We observe all A.A.s principles and Traditions on A.A. Web sites.
Anonymity As anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, we practice anonymity on public A.A. Web sites at all times. Unless password-protected and for members only, an A.A. Web site is a public medium, and, therefore, requires the same safeguards that we use at the level of press, radio and film. In simplest form, this means that A.A.s do not identify themselves as A.A. members using their full names and/or full-face photos. For more information on anonymity online, see the section of this Guideline, Guarding Anonymity Online.
Assuming that the conference was an AA event and you were speaking as a recovered alcoholic and member of Alcoholics Anonymous then I would expect that the Traditions ought to be applied and a share by recovered alcoholic John F. would be appropriate. Starting this site is however a legitimate part of your story. Hope your injuries are healing ok. God bless, Mike H.
-- Edited by Fyne Spirit on Saturday 12th of November 2011 03:58:35 PM
I, for one, would love to hear your share ... regarding the other, I totally agree with rrib on this ... and as you well know, if a person sticks around long enough, then anonymity among brothers and sisters seems to disappear on its own ... no need to give our full names now ... your brothers know who you are! ... and if others want to know who you are, then let them join us and if they stay long enough, the truth shall be revealed ...
God Bless, Pappy
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I love to hear other alcoholic's stories. There's always something for me to hear and it's the foundation of how AA works-one alcoholic sharing and identifying with another. So your story interests me and I hope you post the lead. That's one thing.
I also believe strongly in the principle of anonymity. Yes, I know many of my local members full names, and some here identify themselves that way in shares. That's not really the issue for me. The principle of anonymity the way I see it right now is that we all come to the table as equals. We all have something to share about sobriety, no person is more important than another in AA. This is the key element in our principle of anonymity. So if something about that is connected to why you asked us about identifying yourself in posting the speaking event then if it were me, I would ask myself about my motivations. Are they ego driven? Or is it about carrying the message of AA? I agree with a previous poster: this website is a part of your story and it is an amazing service-IT GOT ME SOBER! This is how I came to AA. I'm forever grateful.
I feel certain with the help of your HP you know what is best. Thank you for sharing all that you have so far.
-- Edited by angelov8 on Sunday 13th of November 2011 12:37:08 AM
