It sure is dark out there! I will have to wait nearly an hour before it is light enough to run outside. I don't want to run on a treadmill this morning, I want to be outdoors. I don't know why I write about my running every day, but I do. JJ says I am killing her with all this running. I sure don't want to do that!
I also don't know why I feel compelled to write about Lindsay Lohan. And no, I am not even looking for a cheap way to get some blog hits. She is a beautiful, talented, train-wreck. I think she stands apart from those other shallow young women she has been hanging around with. If she is an alcoholic, which it looks like she is, and she gets to Alcoholics Anonymous, which apparently she has, she might have a hope of a brilliant life. BUT! Someone needs to tell her that she has not got a prayer if she is not anonymous about it. Anonymity is not just about protecting the person from other people knowing of their AA membership - it is about protecting the person from their own ego driven need to promote themselves. Look at ME! ME! ME! I am a member of AA! Listen to ME! Look at ME!
Alcoholics Anonymous is all about letting go of that self-centeredness. It is about becoming just one of the choir of hopeless drunks who have found a solution in AA. We cannot get well until we stop standing apart from and become a part of.
There are many famous people in AA who have kept their anonymity. And then there are those who haven't - we all know who they are - and they generally end up crashing and burning in very public ways. Years ago, I met a man at a meeting I was in awe of as a rock and roll legend. In an AA meeting, he was just an AA member. I talked to him after the meeting, just like I would anyone else. It was the neatest thing to just experience him as a fellow AA member. It is possible for a public figure to be anonymous, and I believe it is the only way they have any hope at all.
It is still dark outside and now it is windy too! I will get out and run anyway. So there!
"Anonymity is real humility at work. It is an all-pervading spiritual quality which today keynotes AA life everywhere. Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction as AA members both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public. As we lay aside these very human aspirations, we believe that each of us takes part in the weaving of a protective mantle which covers our whole Society and under which we may grow and work in unity" -- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 187
18 comments:
Me too. Good thoughts on anonymity.
I use your running as MY workouts. Please don't stop running or talking about it. I just bought us some new running shoes last week!
I can so relate. I was blessed to hear these two guys speak. They were both fairly public household names, but I barely recognized then at the mic as they introduced themselves as Eric C. and Tony H. They sure did have a great message about anonymity.
I hadn't thought about anonymity in that sense before - to me it was about no-one knowing you went because it was somehow something to be ashamed of because you couldn't handle it on your own. I see it differently now. Thanks, MC (as always!)
Indeed. I hate it when I see famous people be non-anonymous about their membership to AA. Patrick Kennedy's sponsor Jim Ramstad (R-MN)really milked it for the cameras.
As for LL, God help her, I think it has to be much harder being in the spotlight like that.
And yes, it is my belly button birthday today! I am an obtuse blogger, I suppose.
my online meeting this week is on our 12th Tradition--anonymity and principles--can't remember if AA's 12 Tradition is the same offhand--anyway it amazing the perceptions of anonymity and how my own has grown as I have. Lets hope & pray for LL as well
thanks for your comment--meant alot to me
Nice post MC.
JJ
Oops...I mean anonymous..lol
What gets me is the ones who do strange things to kids, ducks, whatever, then blame it on their drinking. I never f----d a duck in all the years I dran and used!
Hope you enjoy your running! Great post btw.
;)
Great comments on LL & anonymity. I wrote about her too a few weeks back (I'm new to blogging - didn't really know how it affected hits - yikes for spam) because even though I think she needs it, it also feels like a PR rescue too. I hope if & when she does get ready, she can feel safe in AA's anonymity the way the rest of us do.
I am deleting all this crappy spam and I will go with word verification (crap!!!) if I get another spammy comment today.
I am the same way about my anonymity. It was great to hear your perspective on it. Only a few close friends and people I'm close to at work know I'm in the program. When I first started blogging I goofed stating my ex-fiancee's name and pictures on the internet but I'm glad he doesn't read blogs and most of all, didn't find out. He's no longer my ex but he still does not know and the blog is history.
As far as your workouts go they inspire me to keep going to the gym. Keep running, I love to hear your progress! Smiles and hugs.
Karen
MC, you can erase those comments completely. I got another of those spams promoting drugs, they target posts that refer to addiction. There are some sick fucks out there. Of course, they remain anonymous.
Great post MC, so sorry that the spam bastards are attacking. Love you!
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