OK, so you’re not an addict or an alcoholic. You’re what we in recovery sometimes call a “normie,” or a “Muggle,” if you’re a Harry Potter fan.
So how would you feel about going to a 12-step recovery meeting anyway? Scary, ain’t it?
But why would a normie go to one of those anonymous meetings? Well, part of my job is to try to reduce stigma around those in recovery for substance abuse issues. So I asked one of the Nashville recovery community’s most well-known dudes how to do that. He said, “Encourage interested people to go to one or two open meetings.”
What? Interesting idea! Maybe if normies see what happens – and doesn’t happen — at these meetings, it’ll humanize the people who go.
An open meeting – and it’ll be designated “open” on online directories and published lists — is one that is open to anyone, any student, any professional, any anyone who might be interested in seeing what recovery looks like in the rooms.
I’ve taken a dozen or so of my normie friends and relatives to several meetings, and I interviewed them for this blog.
“I would say that going to meetings helps to humanize those with substance abuse problems,” my older brother, Scott, said. “You see that they are real people, not just alcoholics or addicts.”
How about that?
My twin brother, Todd, said something similar.
“I probably had a more stereotypical view of what an addict was, so that has changed,” Todd emailed me. “The meetings always have a wide socio-economic spectrum of attendees.”
And there’s more – normies tell me that they are surprised and moved that there are so many people who get together to help each other. And most of my non-addict friends and relatives take away great messages about living better from those meetings.
“I like the theme of serenity and I would like it more in my life,” brother Scott says.
“On a similar note, I like the idea of finding ease of comfort without having to resort to an outside source (alcohol, drugs, food, sex).”
My friend Christine went to several meetings with me, and when she moved to Philadelphia, she said she really missed going to those meetings. Christine loved the community and she loved hearing about how people learned to live spiritual principles.
I told her there are meetings for friends and relatives of alcoholics.
“Oh no!” she said. “I want the real shit!”
Ha! Indeed. I’m so grateful that so many people without addictions have supported me on my journey. And I’m really glad for those who have stepped out of their comfort zone to go to meetings with me.
It also helps me get perspective on what I’m doing.
My college buddy Chris Leary – who has gone to two meetings with me –rocked me with this.
“I guess before I thought alcoholics were lost,” Chris said, “and those meetings are where they can be found.”
Recent Comments