A Higher Power Outage: Zoom Meetings & Spirituality

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

by Christopher Dale

WHAT WOULD BILL W. DO? – 

April 20, 2021 – Undoubtedly, Bill would be impressed with, and grateful for, the technology. But unlike an airborne Washington, for Bill the novelty would soon wear off. “No coffee-pouring or seat-saving? No hearty handshakes and welcoming hugs? No common ground-creating warnings against crosstalk and extraneous discussion? No Steps and Traditions posted on walls?”

 Soon, I’m confident Bill W. would notice something else omitted – something that so many of us have found lacking over the year-plus-long Zoom rooms experiment. Someone as perceptive as Bill would soon realize that the missing ingredients were far more than physical. “Where,” asks Bill, “is the spirituality?” In short order, WWBWD becomes another acronym: WTF. Not “What the f—?”, mind you, but “When the f—?” As in “When the fuck are you people going back to real AA meetings?”

 Let’s be honest: We’ve all heard old-timers in AA wonder aloud what the founders would do when faced with one modern-day issue or another. For one, I’ll admit to rolling my eyes and wishing some folks would accept the fact that we’re far closer to 2035 than 1935. By incessantly theorizing and speculating about Bill and Bob’s intentions, well-meaning AA members have become the boys who cried Wilson. And that’s unfortunate. But this is more important than some squabble du jour. With the pandemic finally winding down, whether or not to continue wide-scale Zoom meetings, even as doing so becomes less and less necessary, has far-ranging consequences. Continuing Zoom rooms indefinitely post-COVID would represent one of the most seismic paradigm shifts in the program’s near-century-long existence. That’s not something to be taken lightly.

If Zoom rooms become a permanent part of AA – if they are “new-normalized” rather than disbanded as short-term necessities – the effects will be far-reaching. For starters, with meetings bifurcated into online and in-person versions, attendance at each will be lighter, meaning less fresh faces and more “same old” stories from well-meaning yet long-winded regulars. 

 But as Bill would have seen as clear as his laptop screen, the more important consequence lies in the spiritual. Simply put, for a sizable swath of AA members, there is a spiritual essence at in-person meetings that cannot be replicated online.

 I cannot quantify that italicized statement. There’s no spirituality meter to gauge, no surveys to link to, no studies to cite. But I know many of you reading this know exactly what I mean. And for those of you who don’t, with in-person meetings returning, I highly recommend seeing for yourselves.

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…You’re Addicted to Likes

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT… – 

April 6, 2021 – A lot of people are seeking out constant recognition and approval from people like bosses, family and friends. It is an issue called “validation addiction” that can cause low self-esteem and stifle one’s true character. 

FOX59 spoke with Mory Fontanez, the CEO of 822 Group and a purpose coach about the signs of this addiction and how to break it. 

For more information on Fontanez’s work, click here.

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Kate Gunn on living sober: “The benefits were extreme and that’s what keeps us going.”

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – SO EASY TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE – 

April 4, 2021 – Kate has written a book called ‘The Accidental Soberista’ which details the unexpected bliss of an alcohol-free life.

Speaking to Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna, she explained that she was a social drinker who, while not having a problem, found alcohol ingrained in her life.

“I was a social drinker, a normal drinker in Irish society, I suppose, I would have had the normal teenage years, drank quite a lot through my 20s, never to a worrying degree, it was always acceptable,” she said.

“Then in my 30s when I had kids it was more wine at home in the evening and then in my 40s I was drinking at the weekends and once during the week, so pretty regular levels I guess.”

Kate’s partner decided to give up alcohol for a month in 2016 so she decided to join him for 30 days.

She said it wasn’t too difficult to abstain and the process was different to dry January which involved the “deprivation of alcohol”, rather than a mindset of “what can we gain” from the month.

“Having said that, the first couple of weekends were difficult and it was boring because you’re so used to going out and using alcohol as your reward,” she explained.

“So to take that away, it took a while to get used to.”

At the end of the month, Kate and her partner released they had enjoyed the benefits of not drinking and decided to do another 30 days to see if they could get to the 90-day mark.

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‘Portraits of Recovery’ paints a hopeful picture of Native addiction treatment

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – IT TAKES A TRIBE – 

April 5, 2021 – The video, Norris-Barrett explained, shows White describing the traditional nature-based approach he took to recovery at Red Lake Chemical Health. “You see Carl pick the cedar,” she said. “For us, the cedar is a medicine. The video is a beautiful way to show how he did it, how he found sobriety. It shows the lake and the land. Spiritually, Native people are connected to the land, and that’s where everything around us comes from. We connect to that in the video.”

Funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Portraits of Recovery” was created as a way for members of the Red Lake Band to share the successes of their reservation-based recovery programs with the wider community. Too often, the news that comes out about Native Americans and addiction is bad, said Reyna Gonzalez-Rivera, Red Lake Chemical Health project director. Not so long ago, she and Norris-Barrett attended a training that emphasized the importance of establishing positive community norms around addiction. They took that message to heart.

“What we took from that conference was that we wanted to spread positive stories in our community — especially stories that highlight recovery,” Gonzalez-Rivera said. “We’re always hearing about overdoses, about addiction, about the negative things that happen in our community. We decided we need to hear more inspiring stories of recovery, stories about people who are working to recover right here in Red Lake.”

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At George Floyd’s Treatment Center, Clients See Racism in Addiction Assumptions

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

ONCE AN ADDICT…? RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE!

April 11, 2021 – Attention to the fentanyl and methamphetamine found in Floyd’s system following his death goes beyond the courtroom: Duke University is investigating the posting of Floyd’s toxicology report on a Black History Month display with a handwritten note that read, in part, “Mix of drugs presents in difficulty breathing! Overdose? Good Man?” In Denver, someone spray painted “Fentanyl Floyd” over a mural depicting his image. Social media abounds with vitriolic comments about Floyd’s addiction and relapse.

“You don’t ever hear a cancer patient being talked about negatively,” said Mohammad. “Substance abuse disorder is a disease of the brain. but when it comes to African Americans, it’s like we’re not treated like we have a disease.”

Minnesota is a national destination for people seeking addiction treatment, but its recovery community is mostly white. In 1976, Peter Hayden opened Turning Point after seeing the need for rehab programs welcoming to Black men, and he and his staff have heard many clients recount their struggles with racism, police harassment, poverty and incarceration.

Floyd came to Turning Point from Houston but relapsed off and on after leaving the program, according to his girlfriend Courteney Ross, and in 2019 he told police officers after a traffic stop that he had a painkiller addiction. Hayden was dismayed to see how critics have used Floyd’s past to disparage him in his police encounter.

“We’re always seen as a perpetrator rather than a victim,” Hayden said of African Americans.

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Twin’s fitness journey to sobriety inspires business

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – SOBER MUSCLE INC. – 

APRIL 5, 2021 – “I was a good kid. Good grades, I was focused, I was easy going, I was happy,” he recalled to News 3.

But it wouldn’t last. Addiction returned to Ashburn’s life in his 20s when he began abusing alcohol. The years that followed included multiple DUIs, arrests and even some jail time.

“I had gotten to the point where, you know, I had lost everything,” he said. It was a second stint in rehab in 2017 that would cause Ashburn to change course, when he says a doctor told him to exercise 30 minutes a day to help regulate his mood.

“That was all I needed to hear,” he said. “When you’re able to get healthy, it will make you happy.”

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New experiment hints that a particle breaks the known laws of physics

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WHAT’S LEFT TO BELIEVE? – 

April 7, 2021 – In a landmark experiment, scientists have found fresh evidence that a subatomic particle is disobeying one of science’s most watertight theories, the Standard Model of particle physics. The gap between the model’s predictions and the particle’s newly measured behavior hints that the universe may contain unseen particles and forces beyond our current grasp.

In a seminar on Wednesday, researchers with Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, announced the first results of the Muon g-2 experiment, which since 2018 has measured a particle called the muon, a heavier sibling of the electron that was discovered in the 1930s.

Like electrons, muons have a negative electric charge and a quantum property called spin, which causes the particles to act like tiny, wobbling tops when placed in a magnetic field. The stronger the magnetic field, the faster a muon wobbles.

The Standard Model, developed in the 1970s, is humankind’s best mathematical explanation for how all the particles in the universe behave and predicts the frequency of a muon’s wobbling with extreme precision. But in 2001, the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, found that muons seem to wobble slightly faster than the Standard Model predicts.

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Jimmy Kimmel blasted for joking about Hunter’s drug addiction

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

CRACKED ME UP – 

April 9, 2021 – ‘And that is hard to believe unless you read the book and then I’m surprised you have shoes on.’ 

Biden, who writes in graphic detail about his crack addiction, replied: ‘Yeah, I made it today. Pants were the problem.’

The flippant remark was all the more ironic because one of the photos found on the abandoned laptop shows Hunter standing in his underwear. 

One Twitter user commented: ‘Bravo. This is late night comedy alright. The fact Hunter Biden is on @JimmyKimmelLive joking and laughing about his laptop shows us how much of a joke everything and everyone is out there in make believe land.’ 

Another user wrote: ‘Does Kimmel ask about the Burisma payments? 50k/mo?’

This tweet refers to Hunter’s salary while working for Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, up to $50,000 per month, despite no experience in the energy sector. 

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April is Alcohol Abuse Awareness Month

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

DEMI LOVATO’S MINI-BAR? – 

April 9, 2021 – “Alcohol and drug use problems can have devastating impacts on individuals, their families and our communities,” says Khan. 

Efforts in Utah to address the state’s opioid epidemic have been successful, but Khan says continued vigilance on that front is needed. 

Khan says these are the key signs that someone you know may be struggling with addiction … “Long-term, recovery from addiction is quite attainable. It involves a multi-dimensional approach that includes developing skills to cope with life on life’s terms, as well as developing a social and emotional network of support,” says Khan. 

Don’t forget, there is help out there. In fact, Regence has teamed up with Boulder Care for addiction treatment available 24/7 through virtual visits. 

Additional local and national resources include:

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