About twice per week I get emails from readers interested in attending our TSB Zoom meetings, curious about what’s required of them to attend. Do I have to be an addict? Do I have to share or can I just lurk and listen?
No, you don’t have to qualify as anything at all, and of course you can lurk and listen. We welcome everyone who comes in and respects the space, and with the intention of helping others. As one of our book editors, Mark, said to me recently: “It’s shared suffering, no labels.”
But meetings are still a tough sell for people, especially if you’ve never been to one or, you had a bad experience at a 12-step meeting and have been spooked ever since.
I floated an idea to some of the regular attendees at TSB meetings: what if we held a Zoom meeting and recorded it for the podcast? They saw the benefit of doing it, but were also a little uncomfortable because, well — how would that work?
Here’s my idea: We have a guest speaker share on a particular topic, say, 10-15 minutes. I’ll ask a few regulars in the community to attend. I’ll be in the studio on the other side a couple of the producers. So, yes — there will be no anonymity, obviously, but everyone will be aware of that before they log into the meeting. This won’t replace any of our regular meetings, either. This will be podcast episode and it’ll take some coordinating to figure out which days and time zones work for everyone. But if we pull it off, it could be kind of cool, and may bring some more people into our room that wouldn’t have attended otherwise.
If you’d like to participate — let me know! Email: [email protected] SUBJECT: POD MEETING
And, in case you missed it, here are some updates on recent TSB pod episodes.
We’re at the halfway point in Season 3 of The Small Bow podcast (on video). Twenty episodes in. Our two most recent ones are up and on the YouTube channel now. First up, our new pal Anna Sale from Death, Sex, and Money dropped into the studio. This was basically a true mash-up of both our podcasts, as we both asked and answered an equal number of questions, mostly about death, with very little sex and money talk.
And then we have three-time guest Mary H.K. Choi on the podcast again discussing her amazing new book, Pool House, plus dead dads, the genius of 12-Step, and, just in time for the final season of “The Bear,” we dig into Carmy’s rudeness during his Al-Anon share.
Also, I’m no longer writing about “The Bear” in its final season, which I’m halfway relieved by, since the past two seasons have almost completely torched my emotional sobriety and somehow caused me “narcissistic injury,” which is crazy. I wrote about this last year.
On Tuesday of last week, despite having two and a half more Bear episodes to watch and recap, I attended two Al-Anon meetings in the morning and therapy in the afternoon before typing another word. I shared all my chaos in the meeting and admitted that what had happened was pretty much a complete emotional relapse. Then I went to a meditation meeting immediately after it and meditated about all those ugly feelings.
By the time I rolled into therapy, I felt like a spell had been broken. Still, I couldn’t figure out why I spun out so hard. Marty, my therapist, sat back and took in all the information and then gave me a prognosis: ‘It sounds like narcissistic injury.’
I don’t know if I want to watch this season. Considering the past two seasons truly bummed me out and the only reason I did watch them was because I was being paid (well) to do so. Why torture myself?
(No offense to Chris Witaske, who plays Pete on “The Bear”.)
Alright: again — let me know if you’d like to participate in the Small Bow’s Very Special Crosstalk Meeting Episode: [email protected] SUBJECT: POD MEETING
Monday: | 5:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 ET |
Tuesday: | 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET |
Wednesday: | 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET |
Thursday: | 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET (Women and non-binary meeting.) |
Friday: | 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET |
Saturday: | 9:30 a.m. PT / 12:30 p.m. ET Mental Health Focus (Peer support for bipolar/anxiety/depression) |
Sunday: | 1:00 p.m PT / 4 p.m. ET (Mental Health and Sobriety Support Group.) |
If you don't feel comfortable calling yourself an “alcoholic,” that’s fine. If you have issues with sex, food, drugs, codependency, love, loneliness, and/or depression, come on in. Newcomers are especially welcome.
Format: crosstalk, topic meeting
We’re there for an hour, sometimes more. We'd love to have you.
Meeting ID: 874 2568 6609
Password To ZOOM: nickfoles
Need more info?: [email protected]