Today I spent some time with my sponsor, who, at 63 years old, is returning to college for a masters’ degree. She went to Montana for a symposium for her degree. In it, they did a trust walk in the wilds near Helena. She said when she was walking the women she was paired with who was blindfolded, she realized the woman knew nothing, not where rocks were, trees that might stand in her path, nothing. It was my sponsor’s responsibility to ensure she was aware of her surroundings.
We both reflected how much that is like working with newcomers who come into the rooms blindfolded by addiction. Yes, they have the language of the streets and they may have seen much tragedy and chaos in their addiction. But they know nothing of this new recovery language or anything about the Twelve Steps or the Traditions. Much like a trust walk, it’s our responsibility as old-timers to handhold them as they gradually regain vision, a new vision, of life without drugs and alcohol.
I try never to forget how important our work is with newcomers and how we are responsible to carry the message and safeguard the newcomer’s experience as much as we can.
I hope you have a great day and that life is full of amazing people and experiences. Today, mine is.
