Sobriety
I haven't begun to think much about what sobriety might look like for me. I'm not yet sober from TV addiction; I'm only abstinent. With most of the substance addictions and some of the process addictions -- like alcohol, narcotics, marijuana, gambling -- sobriety equals abstinence, so it's simple. As AA says, you just put the plug in the jug. But with many addictions -- food, sex, relationships, spending, working -- abstinence is either impossible or undesirable. With TV addiction, abstinence is possible, of course, but I doubt that it really equals sobriety for most people. Clearly there is a lot of broadcast TV, movies, and video, that have value. So the issues for me are how I react to TV, what sets off the addictive response in me.
What will TV sobriety look like for me? Will it include commercial TV, or not? Will I find that some genres -- drama, sitcom, documentary, news, movies -- are sober for me while others are not? Or that particular shows are sober for me, and others not? Will a limit on the number of hours per day represent sobriety? Will the way that I watch TV -- in the company of others, while eating, while working at my desk, alone but with full attention, and so on -- make a difference? What about movies on VHS and DVD (of which I have several hundred)? What about documentary and educational videos, of which I also have quite a lot? I can't answer any of these questions yet. Right now I'm just writing down the questions that have occurred to me so far.
Anyway, abstinence is better than active addiction, and I'm very grateful for it. I don't want to spend too much thought on sobriety yet ... I need to be here now, pay attention to how it feels to be abstinent, to how it feels to be without the TV drug.
posted by Chris S. @ 6/29/2005 10:55:00 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Putting the "plug in the jug" works....
.....but not for me. I am a real alcoholic. Not a Disco Drunk.
A friend of mine, has been working in my office for last few weeks. We are good friends. He is an ex-protogee of mine who came to our Beginners Big Book Step Study meeting last year up here on the Peninsula of Doom - Cape Cod. (That's ex-sponsee or "Former pigeon" for all you AA linguists and practicing Big Book attorneys out there.)
We used the Doctors Opinion and forwards very effectively when we worked together. We know it was effective because he no longer goes to AA meetings. WHAT? You read correctly.
The beauty of the forwards and Doctors Opinion is that not only can we use these chapters the determine if someone is alcoholic -- but we also can make the determination that someone is NOT alcoholic, wasting his and everyone else's time better spent working with real alcoholics.
That is exactly what happened with my buddy.
No matter how we tried, we could not look into his drinking history and find the two components of alcoholism combined: Obsession, and Allergy. It turns out he was drinking too much because he wanted to "drown" whatever it was that was eating at him. He was drinking too much, because he wanted to, not because he HAD to. He doesnt need a spirutal awakening to solv ehis problem - he needs a good counselor!
So, he just " Put the plug in the jug"
It is a good thing too. Imagine if he stayed with the AA Fellowship, and started telling sick, puking alcoholics, who cannot "Not drink" no matter what, to just "Put the plug in the jug, like I did."
As he once told me "Danny if I say I am an alcoholic in a meeting, just because alcohol is a problem, I am lying" I have real respect for this man. One Big Tip-off was when he balked on his fourth step -- just not enough desperation to go to any length. (Some real alkies are not there yet either)
This is why I am so grateful to have learned what alcoholism REALLY is, partially vis a vi The Doctors Opinion and partially from loving Big Book thumpers who had the solution to pass on. My friend is grateful too. Now he does not have to go to meetings. LOL.
If there is ANY part of the Big Book to which newcomers (and oldtimers) and I should pay close attention, it's the early Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous - then the rest will have real meaning and utility.
Peace,
Danny S
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