April 2019: Self-Care
CONTENTS
Cover Image | How I Self-Care | Christie K.
Somatic Dancefood | Shannon D.
My Winchester Moment | David S.
How I Listen to Love Songs | Aimee A.
Editors' Notes
Aimee A.
The phrase “self care” is everywhere at the moment, but when it comes to recovery, it’s more than a trend. Good self care has always been a cornerstone of most people’s recovery, including mine. Making sure I am in good mental, physical, and spiritual condition makes me all the more resilient when I’m faced with difficulties.
​
Turning to a self-care routine when I’m struggling is also important to my recovery. And one method of self care is knowing when I’m overloaded and taking action—and allowing others—to lighten that load.
So if you’re wondering what happened to March issue, I can tell you, in short, that both your co-editors (Kyle and I) found ourselves in situations where we had to practice self care. This meant we had to forgo the March issue and push the content to April.
It wasn’t as difficult a decision to make as it might have been for me a year ago. I don’t like to disappoint people, and I don’t like the idea of not fulfilling a commitment I made. But in this case, I didn’t have much of a choice. And I had to do what was best for me.
So thank you, for your understanding, and thank you for reading. I hope this issue inspires you to renew your self-care habits.
​
Self Care Adapting: Kyle T.
​
My traditional self care has been upended for the past month, and probably for the coming two months. The darker foreshadowing is how my self care will have to change for the rest of my life from this day forward.
On February 10, in the fourth quarter of a great basketball game with my fellows, I made an explosive move to the basket off my right foot and heard a loud pop, followed immediately by pain, like I was kicked in the back of the calf by a soccer player. I immediately fell to the floor. No one was standing near me, a non-contact injury.
I knew pretty quickly the implications of this. Achilles tendon rupture. A few days later the doctor made it clear to me.
After the requisite surgery, I took my pain meds and went home, wondering how things would unfold from here on out. The doctor’s news was grave to say the least.
But the best practice is to find all the blessings in my life: fellows bringing me groceries, all the new Uber drivers I have gotten to meet and chat with—sharing little slivers of life with them—witnessing people help me on the L every day (which is a beautiful experience; one day, a man caught me as I fell backwards because the L took off abruptly and carried me to a seat), and I’ve gotten to have many friends come and visit me and hang out with me, which started a new tradition of Saturday night movies/videogames/sports with the guys!
As the literature says, the vicissitudes of life are completely unpredictable, and if I’m not on sturdy spiritual grounding, I won’t be able to survive the inevitable downturns of life. Fortunately for me, I have a strong network of fellows in all my programs, and they have truly come to my aid in my time of need.
So for the past few months and coming months I have to learn to slow down. It’s not easy. The rainy, grey March days can be tough especially when I need time to get horizontal and ice my leg. I’d like to be engaged in something more exciting, anything to busy my mind rather than have to rest and think. I feel like sometimes time moves so fast, and other times so slow, and it’s always inconsistent in the way it moves. Pain feels like it will never end, and pleasure always feels fleeting.
I had an experience last weekend where I was home through the afternoon and I was tired so I knew I needed to rest and elevate my leg. It was a particularly grey and cold spring day, and I was reclined on my bed looking out the window. I challenged myself to stare and contemplate as long as I could, even though I was vacant and somewhat pensive. I could feel, welling from within me, that old feeling of hopelessness and loneliness.
I noticed while looking out the window that the weather and nature are passive against all my unnatural urges and demands. I was considering how unforgiving the elements can be when I noticed a branch in the tree outside my window that has been dead for some time, but has been unable to fall to the ground because its thin branches got wrapped around a larger branch. It’s been suspended there since the day I moved in. Whatever was stirring in me prompted me up out of the bed on the double. I opened my window and tried to reach out to grab the loose branch, but I couldn’t get there. I looked around my room and saw my crutches. I grabbed a crutch and reached it out the window and caught the branch and pulled it close to me and tried to yank the branch off the tree, but its vines were too strongly wrapped around a bigger branch so I stopped. I looked next to me and found a pair of scissors I had, earlier, used to prune an orchid flower on my desk. I reached the crutch out and yanked the branch close to me again and held it, and despite all its resistance, I was able to sever the vines wrapped around the bigger branch with the scissors and the dead branch came loose. I shook it several times and then gave it a whack with my crutch, all this while leaning out my second-story window, to the amusement of passersby, and the branch freed up and fell to the ground with a crack where it rests to this day. I went back to my bed and laid myself down and iced my leg and looked out at my new view, which now had slightly less obstruction, and felt a sense of ease and satisfaction that I hadn’t felt since before I started staring out the window in the first place.
​
​
​
Somatic Dancefood
Shannon D.
With the onset of my SLAA recovery, more refined self-care skills have been necessary, like quantifying for myself the amount of social time I need, meditation, solitary time, and really honing my ability to take care of myself in relationships like never before, moreover show up in them.
One self-care skill that I would call my saving grace, which has been bountifully introduced with my SLAA recovery, is dance. Maybe modern dance with a hint of ballet and hip-hop mixed in. But more just free form movement because I don’t like constraints around it. As a young girl, I would initiate these elaborate dance routines to Madonna videos in the living room, after enough spoonfuls of vanilla frosting to get me going. I never was allowed to pursue dance, but it has been close to my heart ever since; I’m my true self then. I love being in my body in a joyous way. As someone who is sober from substances as well as food, I have no other things to numb myself with when high emotions strike; and then comes that urgent need to dance. It can strike at any moment, and I just need it.
Along with dance events I routinely attend, and my involvement in a women’s movement group on Tuesday nights, the usual setting is the spacious kitchen of my little coach house apartment in Humboldt Park that I am ever so grateful for. The best time for me is in the evening with candles and tea, aloe juice, water, all the beverages to sip on while I move emotions through my body.
I am told that I am a natural dancer, that I light up, and that my technique is “sharp”—I would like to think that the intensity that I found in acting out is allowed to come out when I’m moving, and its healthy. I’m still not done pining for that intensity at times. Life is calm in sobriety, as you may know; dancing is the one place where I can shake things up, as opposed to doing it within personal relationships, which I have also experienced. When things are calm and going well, there can be a draw for me to cause disturbance or even want to change everything up, my routine, my job, etc. Because, well then I can get to work putting it all back together. And again seek homeostasis instead of just living; it’s a distraction. Resting in the homeostasis is what I am still getting accustomed to in my recovery. It’s almost like eating a rich piece of chocolate that is so savory, it’s hard to sit with it. When I dance, all of this can come out, and there are no permanent consequences.
It’s also a platform for me to feel sensual in my body, just for me. My sensuality is not about pulling someone in, or performing for them (as having sex when I don’t want to is a bottom line for me). When I dance, it’s about the functioning of my body, and the beauty that it creates in a million different ways. A last limb of my sexual addiction has been objectifying myself. For you see, I was addicted to stimulants for over 10 years to be thin, so you would find me more attractive. I think there is a link there as well in not taking up space, because then why wouldn’t you want me? I can be big in dance, and take up all the space I need.
This has only been lifted by my Higher Power most recently and completely against my will. It’s been difficult to reckon with, and I’ve had a hard time. It’s been ever so painfully ripped away by a chain of events I have wished had never happened until I could see the reasoning, although I still waver back and forth because I don’t want to see it. It’s my journey. I’ve had to grieve it, and it’s truly felt like losing a part of my identity, a part I have hidden behind. And healing from my intimacy disorder is about not hiding. Behind men especially. Because I am bright and have many talents!
When I am focusing on looking perfect all of the time on the outside I am really just in fear that you won’t accept me for my vulnerabilities, or that they will be more acceptable then. It’s like my pain and wounds have leaked out and are visible now, and I worked really hard to keep them hidden. Thankfully this lesson that my Higher Power orchestrated specifically for me has lead me to valuing the damaged parts of myself that before I had wished were not there. And to know what an amazing person I am anyway.
​
​
Announcements
​
Opportunities for Newsletter Submission
As members of SLAA, you have the opportunity to contribute to our local Intergroup newsletters, as well as the fellowship-wide newsletter. Read on for more information.
​
Contribute to GREAT FACT
GREAT FACT—what you are reading at this very minute—is the newsletter for the Greater Chicago–Milwaukee Intergroup.
​
We're prepping for publication for the next few months and looking for the following submissions:
-
Essays
-
Fiction
-
Poetry
-
Artwork
-
Photography
​
Upcoming themes (deadline):​
-
May: How I Use Social Media (April 10) What is your relationship with social media? Do you still use it?
-
June: Gratitude in Recovery (May 10) How does gratitude factor into your recovery? What are you grateful for?
-
July: What Is Love? (June 10) What does “love” mean to you? How has that changed for you since you started program?
​
To submit, please send an email to mailroom@slaachicago.org with the subject line "Newsletter Submission." Please feel free to send us something outside of the themes above, and we’ll slot it in when appropriate. Thanks!
Contribute to West Chicago Intergroup Newsletter
​​
Our friends in the West Chicago Intergroup invite members to contribute to their newsletter to share their experience, strength, and hope. According to Mark K., "Writing an article for our newsletter is one way you can serve yourself and others." For more information, email pcomind@gmail.com or visit the West Chicago Intergroup website.
​
​
Contribute to the Fellowship-Wide Newsletter: Journal
​
​The Journal is SLAA’s fellowship-wide newsletter, which goes out to fellows around the world.
The Journal seeks submissions for the “Question of the Day” for upcoming issues (deadline):
​​
-
July/August: "ABM Issue, Practicing Principles over Personalities" How do you practice principles over personalities in relationships during polarizing political/social climates? (May 15)
-
September/October: "Anorexia and Acting Out: Two Sides of the Same Coin" Please describe any experiences that have shown you that anorexia and acting out can be regarded as two parts of the same thing (sex and love addiction). These problems may seem unrelated but they are really two sides of the same coin. (July 15)
-
November/December: "Thank You, AA" Please take this opportunity to express gratitude for what the founders of AA/Al-Anon have gifted to the planet, as adapted by SLAA. (Sept. 15)
​​
Submit responses or other contributions to www.slaafws.org/journalsubmit.
To subscribe to the Journal or read the current issue, please click here.
​
​
​
Thank You from Intergroup
The Chicago-Milwaukee Intergroup would like to express gratitude to the following groups for their contributions, as reported at the November meeting:
​
-
St. Hedwig’s: $210
-
Thursday Keep Coming Back: $13
-
Ravenswood Fellowship Group: $12
-
Solution in the Suburbs: $10
​
These contributions help with Intergroup operations so we can continue to carry the message. Thank you!
​
​
Upcoming Events
Save the date for the SLAA Summer Retreat! The retreat will take place at the Benet Lake Retreat House in Wisconsin, Friday, August 23–Sunday, August 25, 2019.
Stay tuned to the Intergroup website for more information.
​
​
SLAA Online Text-Only Chat
Those who need an additional resource in their SLAA recovery are invited to SLAA Online text-only chat recovery fellowship. Find more information by visiting the SLAA website, slaaonline.org, or by emailing slaaonline@yahoo.com.
​
​
​
Recovery Music
Anonymous
​
In this regular contribution to the newsletter, I, a huge music fan, draw from a recovery playlist I have to recommend songs around a certain theme or by a certain artist related to recovery, spirituality, being present, having fun, dancing, being yourself, being in community, and so on, or just songs that make you feel good with their grooves.
This month's Recovery Music focuses on the work of jazz giant Ella Fitzgerald, whose effortlessly melodious and joyous singing can make anyone's day a lot brighter. Her skills of improvisation, especially scat singing, were unparalleled, and recordings like "Blue Skies," "The Lady is a Tramp," "Get Happy," "Rockin' in Rhythm," "Happy Blues," "Mack the Knife" (live), and "Stompin' at the Savoy" (with Louis Armstrong) help me get out of my head and to a better state of mind.
​
If you're interested in learning more about my recovery playlist and what's on it, contact the SLAA newsletter and they can get in touch with me.
​
​
​
My Winchester Moment
David S.
According to Stepping Stones, guide to the historic home of Bill W., "while [at Winchester Cathedral], Bill had an ecstatic experience of the overwhelming presence of God."
On Monday, February 4, 2019, I reset my sobriety date as a sex and love addict. Unlike every other slip in the past, I did not masturbate. Was it a slip or was it just a near slip, the kind I must confront every day and beg my Higher Power’s help to overcome?
Before I go on, let me say two things: one, I am divorced and live alone; two, much of the masturbation I do is at the computer, viewing erotic images and reading erotic text. In a “Winchester experience” for me, however, on August 1, 2017—given that I am powerless over all these forms of pornography and given that I live alone with all the “digitized” comforts of home—I asked the permission of my psychotherapist and my sponsor to install an accountability software on all the computer devices that I own. This software reports my computer activity on the internet to my sponsor. (Doesn’t nearly all computer work require the internet these days?) With this software, my sponsor can view my activity anytime; however, each Wednesday, the software generates a report that is emailed to him.
Back to February 4: for a couple of days I thought this action on my computer was a near slip. I had gone to a popular search engine to “read about” a kind of pornography that I used to use and still can but for the help of my Higher Power. However, because of the accountability software I use, my sponsor gave me a call. The Wednesday email reported to him this single incident over which I am powerless, even though that day I did not visit any website where this pornography is depicted or sold. As I talked with my sponsor, I thought about the important slogan, “One Day at a Time.” I also remembered the wrenching isolation this disease once built around me. I said to myself, “My sponsor’s care for me right now is an extension of the care of my Higher Power, who took care of me that day.” So, in a mini-Winchester experience, I told my sponsor I was resetting my sobriety date.
Now I can truly say that my sobriety today is what matters, not the “glory days” of a sobriety of one and a half years. I celebrate and remember one and a half years, as I did with my sponsor that day. Truly I was blessed in all that time. But I receive a blessing today, and today is when I need it the most.
​
​
How I Listen to Love Songs
Aimee A.
For me, self care is all about top-line behavior, and most of what’s on that list would be of no surprise to anyone:
-
meditation
-
yoga
-
writing
-
connecting with friends
-
eating well
None of these are quick fixes—nothing is, as we learn in these rooms. But there is one thing that’s close, that almost always gets me in a better mood.
I get in the car, or in the shower, turn up the volume, and at the top of my voice, I belt out love songs. To myself.
I have always been a sucker for a great love song. I’ve always said, no one loves anyone the way someone does in a love song. But once I started program, I had to think about how much those songs shaped the way I view “love.”
So I created a playlist, called “lovesongs,” and it’s full of songs that at one point described for me the relationship I wanted to have with someone else. Listening to them now, from that vantage point, I can see where I got my unhealthy view on love—desperate, all consuming, thirsty.
I started singing them to myself, with a few tweaks if needed, and they’ve become something else: empowering, enlightening, encouraging.
“When I’m returning from so far away, I give me some sweet love, to brighten up my day. And I make me righteous, and I make me whole, and I make me mellow, down to my soul . . . I give me love, love, love, love, crazy love . . .” — Van Morrison.
“At last, my love has come along. My lonely days are over, and life is like a song . . .” —Etta James
“Come on, baby it’s me, I’m the one that gives my all, I’m the one I can always call, when I need to make everything stop. Finally I put my love on top.” —Beyonce
And my favorite love song ever: “For Once in My Life,” by Stevie Wonder. And instead of singing it to myself with longing for that perfect relationship, I sing to myself now; I belt it, actually.
For once in my life, I am someone who needs me
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once I have something I know won’t desert me
Somehow I know I’ll be strong . . .
For once in my life, I am someone who needs me.
​
​
Recovery
Samantha
What is happening?
I'm still grappling
But there is nothing
Gonna take all the hate
that you made
or remove the sting
Of the words that I heard
When I learned
You were leaving me.
See this me?
This me that I want you to see?
This me that I'm willing to be
That is on my knees
Just so you'll love me
I can't fill this hole inside me
I need God to guide me
And though he's always beside me
I feel he can't find me
When it’s me who is blindly
Stumbling and trying
To find my way winding
But so seldom finding
Whatever it takes
To mend my mistakes
And heal all the breaks
That I've made to my own heart
The divot you left in my pillow
is nothing compared to the chasm
that you've left in my heart.
And the distance sowing
between us has been growing
exponentially from the very start.
But my mind keeps finding
ways of rewinding,
relaying and replaying
only the good parts;
I've become an inert expert
at standing still and
just by will
fast forwarding through
the tedious media, the numb minutia
of every normal moment,
holding tight to the euphoric
recall and decollaging on the wall
a piece of artwork of the pedestal
I put you on.
And if I squint my eyes just right,
as I look up in this dim light,
I can almost make out what a perfect life
we could have together.
I want to taste the tang of champagne
and feel the warmth of your hands in mine
as we gaze into each others eyes
over the flame of a guttering candlelight.
But I'm allergic to alcohol and even more allergic to love.
And what I think may make me feel alive
will send skittering hives over my skin
and shut my throat before I can even begin
to wonder what it might be like
to feel anything but unrequited.
Because this love I think I need inside
disguises what I need to find –
which is true love, the meaning of life.
And has only once source,
my only recourse for no remorse.
And that source is God.
That which I decide
to call the one power, MOST high.
The only one on which I can rely,
in who I confide;
the one whom I've tried to hide
from all these years.
Through the lies and the tears,
the bruises and fears,
but it would appear
that the only one to mend these wounds,
to grant a boon is my savior.
My one creator,
the power that is greater
than me or you or any fool
who thinks they've got shit
figured out for themselves.
Life is a machination
that we will never understand;
Math, science and religion
are concepts created by man
to clarify God's plan
and take power into our OWN hands.
But reality is just too grand to grasp,
and infinity is too limiting to last
and the world may never know the roots
to the truths it thinks are true.
But just between me and you,
I think these moments are too few
to let each day slip away
as we seek the wrong ways
to fill our days
and the holes in our hearts.
So let me return to the start,
where I was on my knees
begging you please, please just love me.
But this time let me focus
on the one thing that isn't hopeless,
and let my eyes, my ears
and my heart be open
to letting in a love that's true.
And now the "you" who I'm talking to
is NOT a fool
who will leave my heart bruised,
or a force that will ignore me
like all those before
but one who will restore me.
To sanity in this calamity,
this self-chosen insanity.
And finally relieve me of ME
so I can be
happy. Joyous. And free.
​
​
My Achilles Heel
Kyle T.
Self care is an important part of recovery. Sobriety from sex and love addiction has helped me rediscover parts of me that were long buried underneath the disease. One of the best gifts of sobriety is the slow process of discovering who I actually am when the symptoms of sex and love addiction begin to subside. Traits emerge which I never knew existed.
There are the obvious tenets of self care like healthy eating, exercise, fellowshipping, meditation, prayer, stepwork and career development, which are all well and good, but those never seemed to save me, despite how masterful I became at some of them. Those things always, for me, seemed to proceed from sobriety, rather than precede it. By that I mean that no amount of healthy living can prevent me from acting out. In fact, sometimes my acting out is directly correlated with how skilfull I become at a certain top-line behavior. I start to feel in control again, and my ego plays on that very well.
And so because of that I had to discover deeper levels of self care, away from the obvious external practices. And self care has developed for me over the past year in ways I would have never imagined. One of those ways is walking away from rigid practices and groupthink, and defining my own relationship with a God of my understanding.
It’s been a strange and frustrating journey, because I never knew how volatile my relationship with my higher power was . . . and still is. Right now, with the help of a new therapist centered on trauma work, I’m addressing some severe events that happened in my life when I was a child. But in unearthing these things, I’ve had to come face to face with the person I am today, the light and the dark sides, and consider them both equally valuable in the whole. I’ve also had to feel my anger towards God for some of the things that happened to me and around me.
The hardest form of self care I’ve encountered is the truth that my life is my own, and it will unfold the way it’s supposed to unfold for me, despite what visions others may have for me (or, mostly, the visions I project onto others having for me, which are delusions, but powerful delusions nonetheless). Nobody’s advice has ever really prevented me from doing anything. In that unfortunate reality, I started having to build my own value system, almost from scratch, and understand which values meant what to me and why. Sometimes, the values don’t really have a reason one way or the other, they just cause me discomfort when I go against them, despite what anyone else says. And that’s how, when faced with an opportunity to act out, I come to God of my own understanding, rather than a human power. It’s in that practice that I’ve been able to integrate advice and direction from others into my day-to-day.
An uncanny, and almost universal, trait of addicts is distrust and rebellion against being told what to do. When you spend your whole life feeling lost and apart, it’s hard to take advice or direction. It’s easy to stay in our old ways and beliefs. Those have been the hardest elements of the disease for me to deconstruct: my old ideas. That’s why the book is so adamant about discarding old ideas. I came in to recovery thinking that recovery was just about ceasing negative sexual behavior, I had no idea the scope of that behavior and where its roots hid.
One day at a time, I pray for my old ideas to hold less water for me. Some of them are too important to me to discard wholesale, and so I have to ask for God to remove them on his schedule. I’ve noticed that prayer for certain behaviors to vanish often doesn’t work, and usually makes things worse because I believe the power has to come from me. Surrender looks much different than that for me today, and I’m grateful for that.
​
​
​
Greater Chicago/Milwaukee SLAA Intergroup
Meeting Minutes
Saturday, January 26, 2018
​
Attendance
Vice Chair/Treasurer: Anthony, RFG/Tues NTAC
Outreach: Kelly, Solution in the Suburbs
Inreach: Vince, RFG
ABM delegate: Scott F, Milwaukee Sat morning
Chris S, RFG
​
Reps:
-
Tami, Solution in the Suburbs
-
Bill, St. Hedwig's
-
Christie, Wednesday night Women’s
-
Dave S, Beverly
-
Travis, RFG
​
​
Chairperson Report
-
Motion to approve December meeting minutes: Y - 3, N - 0, A - 2
-
Motion passes
-
-
Tradition 4 discussed by Vince
-
Review of by-laws officer role description
-
Anthony described draft for Treasurer position
-
-
Website/Facilitation
-
New meeting in Hyde Park on 1st/3rd Sundays of every month
-
Added to website
-
-
Yearly payment is due to IG website host
-
A “Save the Date” will be added to website for the SLAA summer retreat on August 23-25
-
Zane (retreat co-chair) will attend IG in February to discuss eventtheme and co-chair options
-
-
Chris S and Travis to be added to IG Google Group mailing list
​
Fiduciary Report
-
Current balance: $6227.40
-
Balance after projected expenses: -$120.00
-
Motion made to approve Treasurer’s report: Y - 7, N - 0, A - 0
-
Motion passes
-
-
Fun Fundraising Event update
-
Some ideas have been discussed, but nothing finalized yet
-
-
Treasury Report, January 2019, as of January 31
Starting Balance Jan. 19, 2019: $6,227.40
Credits (proj.)
​
7th Tradition Contributions:
Thursday Keep Coming Back Group Group 2/12/19 +$5.50
Tues/Thurs Keep Coming Back Group 2/7/19 +$160.00
Tuesday Solution In The Suburbs 1/29/19 +$5.00
Ravenswood Fellowship Group 1/25/19 +$21.00
Ravenswood Fellowship Group Personal 1/24/19 +$5.00
Ravenswood Fellowship Group Personal 1/24/19 +$5.00
Tuesday Solution In The Suburbs 1/23/19 +$5.00
Sunday Night Evanston 1/22/19 +$50.00
Beverly Unitarian Group 1/21/19 +$78.00
Total Credits (proj.) +$334.50
​
Debits
Hedwig’s Rent (Jan through March) –$90.00
Hedwig’s Rent (Dec.) –$105.00
Act. Current Balance (1/31/19) $6,107.40
​
Proj. Balance (2/15/19)
Credits +$334.50
Accounting Balance* $6,441.90
*NOTE: Projected Payouts inc. Actual Balance listed is accurate and current.
​
Venmo Transfers
Transfer 2/15/19 +$334.50
​
Prudent Reserve of $2510.00:
-
Rent - one year ($360.00)
-
P.O. Box ($200.00)
-
Website ($150.00)
-
Retreat Reserve Self Supporting ($1800.00)
Anticipated Costs 2019:
2 Annual Business Meeting Delegates ($3,200.00)
Total: $5710.00
Subtracting Prudent Reserve and Anticipated Costs from Act. Balance: +$731.90.
Projected with pending expenses and credits ($334.50)
​
Fellowship Worldwide Services (FWS) Report
-
This year’s annual business meeting (ABM) will be held in Sacramento, CA onJuly 23-26
-
IG had budgeted for Scott F and one other delegate to attend
-
-
Scott informed that there are various conference committees doing service for FWS
-
Service opportunities for these committees are available to all SLAA members
-
-
The latest FWS report was mailed to IG
​
In-Reach Report
-
Newsletter
-
January Newsletter draft not yet sent to IG for voting
-
Vince will follow up with Aimee and Kyle
-
-
Our by-laws state that we must inform SLAA members about upcoming IG officer and ABM delegate elections one month prior. This announcement will be added to January and February newsletters
-
Fall Gathering
-
2nd Chairperson vote:
-
Nominees: William and Chris S
-
Discussion was held about nominees and vote was in favor of Chris S being 2019 co-chair with Tami (previously voted)
-
-
-
Event in a Box
-
Spreadsheet created by Vince and submitted to IG for feedback
-
Kelly and Christie offered positive feedback
-
Christie suggested adding a line item about a co-chair post-event debrief
-
Anthony will make a template budget spreadsheet for use in events
-
Tool renamed “SLAA Event Planning Guide”
-
Outreach Report
-
New Town Alano Club (NTAC) requested SLAA pamphlets to hand out to club visitors.
New Business
-
Intergroup Officers and ABM Delegates elections to be held in March, 2019
-
Nominations will be finalized in February
-
Nominations to date:
-
Chair: Vince
-
Treasurer: Anthony
-
Inreach: Vince
-
Outreach:
-
ABM:
-
-
-
Procedures for new officers needed
-
In February IG will review Chair
-
-
Insight meeting
-
Several challenges have arisen due to differences of opinion between treatment center staff and SLAA members.
-
​
Meeting Representative Announcements
-
Encourage submissions to newsletter
-
Encourage IG attendance
-
Intergroup Officer and ABM Delegate elections in March
-
Save the Date for SLAA summer retreat - August 23-25
-
Opportunities for service on SLAA ABM committees
​
The next meeting was confirmed for Saturday, February 16, 2019
​
​
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Attendance
Chair: Hannah, RFG
Outreach: Kelly, Solution in the Suburbs
Treasurer/Vice Chair: Anthony, RFG/Tues NTAC
Inreach: Vince, RFG
Summer Retreat Co-Chair: Zane
ABM delegate: Scott, Milwaukee Sat morning
Reps:
-
Tami, Solution in the Suburbs (also Fall Gathering Co-Chair
-
Bill, St. Hedwig's
-
Christie, Wednesday night Women’s
-
William, Sunday night Evanston
-
Travis, RFG
-
Verne, Rise and Shine
Chairperson Report
-
Motion to approve December meeting minutes: Y - 10, N - 0, A - 1
-
Motion passes
-
-
Tradition 5 discussed by Anthony
-
Next month: Tradition 6 by Scott
-
-
Summer Retreat Updates
-
Planning has started: Aug 23-25 at Benet Lake
-
Cathy proposed as Co-chair. Motion to approve: Y - 11, N - 0, A - 0
-
Motion passes
-
-
Themes: Principles of recovery based on Steps and Traditions
-
Budget
-
Last year’s budget was ~$7k
-
This year’s projected budget $7920
-
-
Downpayment of $5200 needed by Benet Lake
-
-
Website/Facilitation
-
A “Save the Date” will be added to website for the SLAA summer retreat on August 23-25, as well as updated URL for newsletter
-
Fiduciary Report
-
Current balance: $6107.40
-
Balance after projected expenses: $334.50
-
Motion made to approve Treasurer’s report: Y - 10, N - 0, A - 0
-
Motion passes
-
-
-
Changes to Treasurer report
-
Report will now reflect treasury activity based on calendar month (eg, Jan 1 to Jan 31) rather than from IG meeting to IG meeting.
-
Payments to St. Hedwig will be made quarterly rather than monthly
-
-
Fun Fundraising Event update: No report
-
IG seeking Rep from Milwaukee area
-
Tami will reach out to a fellow she knows from that area
-
-
Treasurer’s report: January 2019
Starting Balance Jan 17, 2019: $6221.15
Credits
7th Tradition Contributions
Hedwig’s 12/15/18 +$32.00
Thurs Keep Coming Back 12/28/18 +$13.00
Ravenswood Fellowship Group 12/28/18 +$12.00
Tuesday Solution In The Suburbs 1/1/19 +$5.00
Tuesday Solution In The Suburbs 1/8/19 +$5.00
Hedwig’s 1/13/19 +$178.00
Debits
Check #341 1/7/19 (Game Nt.) -$133.75
Check #340 12/18/18 (Game Nt.) -$105.00
Act. Current Balance (1/19/19) $6227.40
Proj. Balance (1/19/19)
Check #339 Hedwig’s Rent Dec 2018, 12/15/18 -$30.00
Check#342 Hedwig’s Rent Jan through March 2019, 1/18/19 -$90.00
Accounting Balance* $6107.40
*NOTE: Projected Payouts inc. Actual Balance listed is accurate and current.
Venmo Transfers
Transfer 1/18/19 $245.00
​
Prudent Reserve of $2510.00:
-
Rent - one year ($360.00)
-
P.O. Box ($200.00)
-
Website ($150.00)
-
Retreat Reserve Self Supporting ($1,800.00)
Anticipated Costs 2019:
2 Annual Business Meeting Delegates ($3,200.00)
Total: $5710.00
Subtracting Prudent Reserve and Anticipated Costs from Act. Balance: +$397.40.
Projected with pending expenses and credits (-$120.00).
Fellowship Worldwide Services (FWS) Report
-
This year’s Annual Business Meeting (ABM) will be held in Sacramento, CA on July 23-26
-
IG had budgeted for Scott F and one other delegate to attend
-
-
Scott informed that there are various conference committees doing service for FWS
-
Service opportunities for these committees are available to all SLAA members
-
-
The latest FWS report was mailed to IG
In-Reach Report
-
Newsletter
-
No draft available to review—Kyle informed that next draft would be available by Feb 25th
-
IG discussed drafting guidelines for Co-editor position, including sobriety requirements for submissions, attendance at IG meetings
-
Vince will draft
-
-
Outreach Report
-
Kelly requests that a man assist her in responding to men who contact IG via voicemail or email.
New Business
-
Intergroup Officers and ABM Delegates elections to be held in March, 2019
-
Nominations will be finalized in February
-
Nominations to date:
-
Chair: Vince
-
Vice-chair:
-
Website/Facilitation: Christie
-
Treasurer: Anthony
-
Inreach: Vince, WIlliam, Verne
-
Outreach: Kelly, William, Verne
-
ABM Rep: Anthony, Scott
-
-
Procedures for new officers needed
-
Draft Chair position based on IG by-laws
-
-
Meeting Representative Announcements
-
Encourage submissions to newsletter
-
Encourage IG attendance
-
Intergroup Officer and ABM Delegate elections in March
-
Save the Date for SLAA summer retreat - August 23-25
-
Opportunities for service on SLAA ABM committees
The next meeting was confirmed for Saturday, March 16, 2019.
​
All SLAA members are welcome to attend Intergroup meetings, which typically take place the third Saturday of each month, at 8 am at St. Hedwig's Church, 2246 N Hoyne Ave, Chicago.
​
​
Thank you for reading!
Coming in May: "How I Use Social Media"
We invite you to share your experience, strength, and hope.
To submit, please send an email to mailroom@slaachicago.org with the subject line "Newsletter Submission"
​
​