WHAT I LEARNED: 1. While perusing through some Al-Anon service tools in the Area Archives, I came across “My Journey in Service” (item # M-57). At roughly 60 pages, the booklet is designed as a journal so it has lots of lined paper & blank spaces for writing, plus it includes a CAL service-oriented quote…
Tag: Lois Wilson
PODCAST – Reaching For Personal Freedom / Best of Public Outreach (Item #’s P-92 / P-90)
EPISODE 7 of my “CAL Chat” podcast is now available to listen to! What do I want to be free of? What exactly are character defects? Can Alateen outreach be done to AA members? (To hear this episode, please visit the show’s website at: calchatpodcast.com – or you can subscribe to it for free wherever…
CAL – The Best of Public Outreach (Item # P-90)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. The guest for my next “CAL Chat” podcast show (Episode #7) chose this booklet, “The Best of Public Outreach” (item # P-90), as his favorite outreach piece. I’ll be posting that episode soon at calchatpodcast.com, but wanted to get my review in this blog first. This hardcopy booklet was originally printed…
PODCAST – As We Understood / How Al-Anon Works / Alateen-a day at a time (Item #’s B-11 / B-22 / B-10)
EPISODE 6 of my “CAL Chat” podcast is now available to listen to! Can I fire my Higher Power? What is a “Meeting on Wheels?” What is not allowed in recovery literature when bringing it into jails? (To hear this episode, please visit the show’s website at: calchatpodcast.com – or you can subscribe to it…
MTG – Ocoee – “Monday Miracles”
WHAT I LEARNED: Although I can’t find anything in the literature to prove she actually called herself one, I believe Lois W. was probably the very first Service Sponsor in Al-Anon.
CAL – Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual 2014-2017 (Item # P-24/27)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Originally, I only read the “Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual” on an as-needed basis, but when my next podcast guest said that this was her favorite book that she wanted to talk about on my “CAL Chat” show, I had to dust off my manual & put on my scuba reading mask to…
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…
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 – The Concepts-Al-Anon’s Best Kept Secret? (Item # P-57)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Whereas the Steps are about recovery, & the Traditions about unity, what the Concepts are about is in their full title: the 12 Concepts of Service. Q: What is service? A: Gratitude in action! Per “Many Voices, One Journey” (item # B-31) page 154, Lois W. presented the Concepts in 1970…
CAL – The Al-Anon Family Groups (Classic Edition) (Item # B-5)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I knew this was Al-Anon’s first book that was printed in 1955 & that Lois Wilson intended this to be our “Big Book.” What I didn’t know is that the first draft was just going to be a pamphlet & now this re-issue from 2000 is actually several versions of this…
CAL – Purpose & Suggestions (Item # P-13)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Lois W. & Anne B. wrote this as Al-Anon’s very first pamphlet in 1951. Interestingly, its title used to be “Purposes & Suggestions.” According to “The Al-Anon Family Groups (Classic Edition)” (item # B-5), the title was changed in 1976 affirming only one purpose (see Tradition 5). …Makes me curious what…
CAL – Al-Anon: Then and Now (Item # AR-2)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Regional Service Seminars (RSS’s) were established in 1979 but I have never heard of these. 2. Apparently between the US & Canada there are 9 regions total & 3 RSS’s per year. I’m on the hunt to find out more about these & when the next one will be. 🕵️♀️ If…
CAL – Al-Anon’s Co-Founders (Item # P-87)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. That the original card file of groups from Al-Anon’s meager beginnings can still be viewed at the World Service Office headquarters in Virginia. Add that to my bucket list! ☑️ 2. For more info about Anne B., see item # P-66 & for more about Lois W., see item # B-7….
CAL – Anne’s Story (Item # P-66)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Although this is a discontinued pamphlet, in my search for more info on Anne B. (the other co-founder of Al-Anon Family Groups), I was glad to find that there was a piece of CAL just dedicated to her. 2. I had no idea that she & Lois W. were neighbors. It…
CAL – Lois Remembers (Item # B-7)
For the books that I’ll read for this blog, I’ll be going in order of “lowest sellers” to “highest sellers” according to what I’ve sold in the past year & a half to District 6 members. Not sure why “Lois Remembers” is on the bottom of this list… Maybe because it came out in 1979 &…
"CAL Chat" Blog ~My journey in Al-Anon~ 