Since Right Now

SOMETIMES YOU DO GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION. In which the S.O.S meeting Jeff and Chris set out to attend is not the S.O.S. meeting they find. Which then leads Jeff to facilitate Chris’ second attempt at attending an A.A. meeting. Will he go in? Will he stay? Do they cast him out as an imposter? Do they welcome him as a brother? Is there coffee? Find out in this week’s episode… We also talk through Step 11. http://12step.org/the-12-steps/step-11.html REFERENCED Secular Organizations for Sobriety (S.O.S) / http://www.sossobriety.org/ Sisters of Sobriety (S.o.S) / How some women-only Alcoholics Anonymous meetings identify themselves. / https://www.google.com/#q=sisters+of+sobriety Headspace / Meditation app / https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety / We didn’t actually mention this organization but it has a lot of good info / http://akfsa.org IMAGE Southington, Connecticut. A meeting / Charles Fenno Jacobs / 1942 / publi

One of Those Three Is Not A River In Egypt. We talk about all three. Also, the question is raised as to whether Chris may be a narcissist. REFERRENCED • Denial In Addicted Family Systems / HuffPo / http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-tian-dayton/alcoholism-family_b_2610766.html • Addiction Denial and Cognitive Disfunction: A Preliminary Investigation / The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences / journals.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=101600 • Quiz: Are You A Narcissist? / TIME / http://time.com/3136687/narcissist-quiz/ IMAGE A typical Egyptian village in the Nile Valley [detail, colorized by K+S] / ca. 1911 / Underwood & Underwood / public domain via Library of Congress / http://loc.gov MUSIC https://soundcloud.com/djfmdotcom

Sober Dates, Slips, Relapse, Second Stage Recovery & Step 9 The second episode to solicit topics via Twitter is the first to be informed almost entirely by a Twitter Topic. Chris and Jeff do their best to explore a two-part suggestion by @BeckyGetsSober. Twitter Topic BeckyGetsSober https://twitter.com/BeckyGetsSober/status/511678004708130817 Referrenced Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction / Earnie Larson http://www.amazon.com/Stage-II-Recovery-Beyond-Addiction/dp/0866834605 Whatever Happened to the Circle and Triangle? (pdf) / reproduced from Grapevine ca. 1993 http://silkworth.net/pdfGSC/Around-AA-Dec-1993.pdf Recovery Ink: Chris https://app.box.com/s/z2sg0pr8keod5f66q0aj and Jeff https://app.box.com/s/nqp6ng99k1ieye0a77kn Since Right Now Studios Coffee Table feat. Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life / Joe C. https://twitter.com/Rebellion_Dogs, Rebellion Dogs Publishing The First 30 Days to Serenity / Super Star https://twitter.com/sobersuperstar And The Guide to Drinking (2014) /

Anonymity. Shame. Stigma. Ain't nobody got time for that. Chris and Jeff talk about it. Referenced: How Addiction Really Affects The Family / AddictionBlog.org http://alcohol.addictionblog.org/how-addiction-really-affects-the-family/ Allen Carr's Easyway To Stop Smoking / Allen Carr http://www.allencarr.com Chantix / "A non-nicotine prescription medicine specifically developed to help adults 18 and over quit smoking." https://www.chantix.com Thanks for the Twitter Questions: http://twitter.com/mssginbottle http://twitter.com/DMBismysanity Music: DJ FM / soundcloud.com/djfmdotcom

After a brief "celebration" of Chris' Sober Birthday (9.1.97) Chris and Jeff talk about the challenge of a family get together when there's an alcoholic elephant in the room wearing the addict Emperor's new clothes. Then Jeff explains Step 7 to Chris and tries to get him to admit to a P H'er than himself. Referenced International Overdose Awareness Day / August 31 / http://overdoseday.com Recovery Month / September / http://recoverymonth.gov Al-Anon / Strenght and hope for friends and family of problem drinkers. / http://al-anon.alateen.org Music Intro: Cradle, Outro: Memory / DJ FM / https://soundcloud.com/djfmdotcom Image Destruction $150,000 of Whiskey, Girard, Ala. / Bain News Service / ca. 1915-1920 / Public domain via Library of Congress, http://loc.gov

We briefly consider how we, as addicts, feel about the terms used to describe us. By others? By ourselves? Then we consider—at length!—what's up with addicts so often being plagued by depression and creativity. Referenced in this episode How Language Can Undermine Addiction Recovery / Melissa Dahl, New York Magazine http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/08/how-language-can-undermine-addiction-recovery.html We Are Having the Wrong Conversation About Robin Williams / Richard Taite, Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-taite/robin-williams-we-are-hav_b_5697796.html Gifted, Talented, Addicted / Douglas Eby, Talent Development Resources http://talentdevelop.com/articles/GTA.html The 27 Club / Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club

Jeff and Chris chat—and laugh—about getting to the truth in recovery (both in general and in the context of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,) the shame we accumulate during our active addiction, and how it all sort of ties into our big, messy addicts' egos. REFERENCED Thirteen Truths and A Lie — An Annotated List / Chris, 2008 https://SinceRightNow.com/insights/2014/8/13/thirteen-truths-and-a-lie-an-annotated-list Radical Honesty / Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Honesty Robin Williams’ divine madness will no longer disrupt the sadness of the world / Russell Brand, The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/12/russell-brand-robin-williams-divine-madness-broken-world PostSecret: http://postsecret.com So let me tell you about the time I ended up knee deep… / Waking Up the Ghost: http://www.wakinguptheghost.com/blog/so-let-me-tell-you-about-the-time-i-ended-up-knee-deep MUSIC Intro: Cradle / Outro: Memory https://soundcloud.com/djfmdotcom

What a week. Referenced in this episode: Robin Williams Norm Macdonald's Twitter tribute http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/12/norm-macdonald-robin-williams-twitter-tribute_n_5672465.html Rob Delaney: On Depression & Getting Help http://robdelaney.tumblr.com/post/414007899/on-depression-getting-help The Fix: Can an AA Critic and a 12-Step Advocate Get Along? http://www.thefix.com/content/can-aa-critic-and-12-step-advocate-get-along And Everything Afterwards: Robin Williams found dead at home — suspected suicide by asphyxiation http://lifeafteralcohol.com/2014/08/12/robin-williams-found-dead-at-home-suspected-suicide-by-asphyxiation/ Though it was published after we had recorded this post—specifically it's comments—illustrate well some of the issues surrounding how addiction and depression are perceived. I almost forgot, from a now defunct blog of Chris': Thirteen Truths and A Lie — An Annotated List https://SinceRightNow.com/insights/2014/8/13/thirteen-truths-and-a-lie-an-annotated-list Intro: Cra

Longtime-friends, Chris and Jeff, have over 30 years in relapse-free recovery between them. In this episode they continute to each learn a bit more about the other's recovery. The emotional and sensory numbness of early-sobriety and the "you" that you have to deal with once the alcohol and/or drugs are gone are two topics explored. Notes: •I need to take notes. I apologize to Peter Litton and Tom Mohr of SoberingStories.com for a less-than-artful telling of your story. I also need to beg forgiveness from StopHeroin.org for not being better prepared to tell your story. Listeners, please clicks the preceding links to learn more about these two groups and the powerful work they're doing. •Regarding issues covered on the Since Right Now Podcast we are not professionals. We're just a couple of 40-something guys with two different paths to long-term sobriety offering opinions and insights based on their experiences. We do, however, hope you find something intereseting and hopefully relevant to your recovery.

Meet your co-hosts, long-time friends, Chris and Jeff, as they discuss how they got to right now. Jeff, the one who just celebrated 14 years of sobriety, has been goint to AA since before he was in recovery. Chris, who'll soon celebrate 17 years, has never been to a meeting. This is the beginning of what we hope will be an insightful, inspirational, challenging and hopeful exploration of recovery in all its forms. On the Since Right Now Podcast we'll laugh about recovery (and addiction), we'll swear at addiction (and ourselves) and maybe…just maybe…on some future episode…we'll talk about that one time when we cried.

It began not with a bang, but with a whimper. I have exhumed the very first expression of Since Right Now and have recommitted it to the record for posterity and the completists. Recorded on an iPhone using the white Apple earbuds. Originally released June 15, 2014. CREDITS Image: "Lil' Dirty Blue Eyes" based on a photo of unknown provenance. Intro/outro: A lot of other people's © stuff.