I'm still trying to figure out all of these different types of meetings. What is a 12 & 12 step meeting? A study group? How does step discussion differ from a regular meeting?
A 12+ 12 is generally based around a study of the book 12steps and 12 traditions. Usually one step or tradition is read through then members are invited to share their experience on the step or tradition being discussed. They are great for getting a good understanding of the traditions and why we have them, and are also good for gaining a deeper understanding of the steps once you have taken them. I have found that they are not much good for understanding the steps in advance, it just seems it is not possible to fully understand a step until you have taken it.
A study group could be studying the Big book which is our basic text. It is the only place you can find the clear cut instructions for taking the steps. the steps get you connected to your higher power, and your higher power solves all your problems. For this reason it is well worth it to have a study group as part of your weekly AA attendance.
I Guess step discussion may or may not use the 12 and 12 or big book. If it is not using the literature as a guide, what you hear may not be quite as useful as you might think.
Speaker meetings I guess you know about.
Then there are open discussion meetings. When I came in this was all we had. Unbeknownst to me we had abandoned literature based meetings in favour of group therapy type stuff which came as a result of the vast majority of our new members arriving via the same treatment centre. In many of these meetings members were encouraged to vomit up their daily trash. Not many of us were getting well. I was lucky to have old style sponsorship and learned about God and the steps through that.
Now we still have a lot of open discussion meetings but we are getting more and more literature based meetings and the health of our fellowship seems to be improving.
Mike (Fyne Spirit) described the meeting types pretty well ... and I must add that 'Step Meetings' were so very important for my growth and understanding in AA ... they helped me to come 'full circle' as they say ... I highly recommend going to at least one 'Step Study' meeting a week, if not two ...
Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Thanks for the info! I'm checking out a different meeting today to the one I've been going to. I still feel very nervous walking in that door, and now especially so with a new one.
Hi Ruby. In early sobriety, I tried all the different meetings. MikeH description was pretty good, but I liked the format of the 12 & 12 step study meetings better, one meeting one step, it just worked for me. I knew what I was getting on my way to the meeting that night. I made two of them my weekly meetings and they stayed on the 12 steps, so every 12 weeks I read through that book twice and did so 8 times that year. Every time I read/read a step in the 12 and 12, I find/found something new that I didn't relate to before. All of that info is "onboard" with me now. Yes I read the big book, and worked the steps with my sponsor, but what I encountered in "big book study groups" was the same kind of fundamentalist attitude (this is the only way to get "Really Sober if you're a REAL alcoholic") that makes me sad today. But while we're mostly alike, in our disease, we're also a little different and Thanks God there's variety within our AA program. Best thing would be to have one of each of these meetings in your weekly program, including a women's meeting. Look also for an "As Bill sees it" meeting where a topic is selected and pages related to that topic (such as resentments) are read, then followed by a discussion. The ABSI book is what I call AA's greatest hits lol. It's paragraphs taken from all of AAs literature, including the monthly magazine The Grapevine. Friday or Saturday night speakers meetings are a very good way to hear other's message and to engage in the fellowship of AA which is hugely important. Many of these are large and very social. To me it replaced the want to go out to parties and bars and so on. I enjoyed seeing and meeting lots of folks. Many of our speakers meetings had some sort of a dinner or we went out to dinner after. Weekend morning meetings typically ended up at the local breakfast place as well. This helps us to form and maintain our AA network and what we call "family of choice". Have fun with it.
I'm glad I read this thread this morning. My cranky pants are squeezing me so tight I'm either pissed off or almost pissing my pants the past 3 days.
I needed to really pray this morning... still don't know what I'm praying to... but now I sit down on here and heard everything and every answer I was searching for. Clearly, I'm not making my HP a priority. I'm in a rut of all discussion meetings, and I need to find other types of meetings and make them a priority and work them into my schedule. The thread started by Johnny500 today had everything I needed to hear in it as well. Really great stuff by the rest of the people who posted in it! Thanks so much for your threads here Ruby - keep coming back - it helps me : )
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
Great thread! I, like Tasha, have been in a meeting rut... I don't drive so I have been opting for 'convenience'. I realized that every meeting I was attending were of the 'open discussion' variety- with pretty much the same people (overwhelmingly men). It's great that I was going to a meeting every day, but I was feeling very stagnant. So I switched it up by attending meetings in the area I work in. Just by switching out for 2 step study meetings, and some women's meetings I feel as though I'm getting a lot more out of meetings. Open discussion is great, but I actually really enjoy reading the big book and hearing others discuss it. Also, being in a room with a more even mix of men and women helps me to feel A LOT more comfortable. For me, who has serious fear issues with men, being 1 of maybe 3 women in a room of 40 or more men wasn't helping matters, though I thought forcing myself to 'tough it out' would. Small changes, but Has changed my experience of meetings dramatically:)
Yes Col - I agree. I thought toughing it out with all men would be fine too, but it's not fine. I am so much more connected in the meeting when I'm not breathing in testosterone laced air. Nothing against men at all for me. Tried telling myself it didn't matter... that I was trying to make myself unique or special or womans meetings weren't real aa meetings etc etc... but WHATEVER... it's just better for me when I'm with woman... so why fight it!!!! I'm not here to make or change the rules, I'm just here for my sobriety. Plain and simple.
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
12 & 12 meetings, or step meetings, are my favorite. It helped clarify a lot of stuff for me. We have spiritual meetings in our area also. They help me guage what others call spiritual progress. Those are my two favorites.
-- Edited by Mr_David on Sunday 16th of December 2012 03:21:24 AM
