WHAT I LEARNED: 1. As an Area Archivist once said, “I love my position because I get to time travel.” I too feel I get to step into the ‘Wayback Machine’ whenever I read discontinued Al-Anon literature. When this “Forum Favorites” book was first published in 1970 it was a hefty hard cover book &…
Tag: Book
CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 2 (Item # B-9B)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Since I’m reading the entire discontinued “Forum Favorites” series from most recent to oldest (see my previous entries for Volume 3 (item # B-9C) & Volume 4 (item # B-9D)), this Volume 2 (item # B-9B) came as a shock because it was immediately apparent that every story was in the…
CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 3 (Item # B-9C)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. After I became the North Florida Area Literature Coordinator in 2015, I was “bequeathed” a lot of CAL & some were discontinued pieces. Whoo-hoo! So I’m slowly making my way through them & decided to start by reading the entire “Forum Favorites” series from most recent to oldest. (See my previous…
MTG – Orlando – “Hope For Today AFG”
WHAT I LEARNED: “We” is such a small word, yet it has such a big meaning! (See “Hope for Today” (item # B-27), page 181.)
MTG – Orlando – “Peace Within AFG”
WHAT I LEARNED: We talked a little about the new upcoming Daily Reader that is about diversity in the program & someone mentioned: “We all smile in the same language.” Awww… Actually, that might be a good title for the book!! ━━━━━▼━━━━━ **BONUS: If you’d like to submit a personal sharing for the new…
CAL – Al-Anon’s 12 Steps & 12 Traditions – Original (Item # B-8)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. If you’re following along with each post chronologically, then you’ve come to this entry to find out what is different in this original (now discontinued) version from 1981 compared to the revised 2005 version. If the program hasn’t changed, why did the book change & what am I missing that was…
CAL – Al-Anon’s 12 Steps & 12 Traditions – Revised (Item # B-8)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I would consider this book the “lite” version of “Paths to Recovery” (item # B-24), but it still packs a punch. Each section starts with a 2-4 page essay, followed by a “Thinking It Over” reflection, & lastly a personal story. The average is 6 total pages per each Step (but of…
CAL – From Survival to Recovery (Item # B-21)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. For the fellowship, “From Survival to Recovery: Growing Up in an Alcoholic Home” (item # B-21) marked a major turning point in fully welcoming adult children of alcoholics in the mid 90’s. At 300 pages, it’s probably only a few pounds, but it felt so much heavier than that because of all…
CAL – As We Understood… (Item # B-11)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Based on its size, this book looks like it might be a daily reader, but it’s not designed that way. The purpose of the book was to share members’ sense of the spiritual (not religious) nature of the program. It doesn’t focus on any one particular Step & I’m glad for…
CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 4 (Item # B-9D)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. To see the early beginnings of this multi-volume book, we have to go back to an AA event, specifically the International Convention in 1970 where it made its debut as a hardcover book: “Al-Anon’s Favorite Forum Editorials” (item # B-2). (Side note: Al-Anon didn’t start having its own International Conventions until…
CAL – Opening Our Hearts, Transforming Our Losses (Item # B-29)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I won this book in a raffle basket many moons ago but I was afraid to read it because it was about grief & loss. I thought if I did, something bad would happen – which makes about as much sense as not making a last will & testament means I…
CAL – The Dilemma of the Alcoholic Marriage (Item # B-4)
In 1965, this book originally had the proposed title “Alcoholism & Sex.” Two years later it came out with the current title to appeal to a wider audience. As I write this in 2014, the book hasn’t been revised for 42 years & it shows. With terms like: temptress, fellows, bulwark (I had to look…
MTG – Orlando – “Easy Does It”
WHAT I LEARNED: Wise words: “…what we resist persists.” (See page 18 from “Opening Our Hearts, Transforming Our Losses” (item # B-29).) Even wiser words: “Resistance is futile.” (See probably any sci-fi movie trailer.) I need to get back to Step One & wave the white flag of surrender.
CAL – Alateen’s 4th Step Inventory (Item # P-64)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This 4th Step workbook focuses on 6 key areas: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, Love, Responsibility, Feelings, & Relationships. Each section has 4-5 sharings, 2 cartoons, 8 questions, & best of all, pages to draw! I can’t remember the last time I drew what my feelings looked like… (I probably used a lot of…
CAL – Discovering Choices (Item # B-30)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This book almost didn’t happen. Originally, it was only supposed to be a revision to “The Dilemma of the Alcoholic Marriage” (item # B-4), but the revisions were becoming too extensive & the focus on just marital relationships was too narrow. So in 2001, concept approval was given to create this…
CAL – Alateen Program Wallet Card (Item # M-18)
WHAT I LEARNED: Somehow, when I was reviewing the Alateen Newcomer Packet (item # K-18), I must not have seen this small wallet card. But since I’m now going through the literature chronologically, I saw this item mentioned as an “Alateen 12 x 12 Wallet Card with Preamble” on page 13 in the “1978 World…
"CAL Chat" Blog ~My journey in Al-Anon~ 