When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it

Amanda Gorman, Inaugural Poem

As I write this, Michigan is experiencing yet another surge in Covid virus cases.  People in my circle are rightly sick and tired of avoiding people, social distancing and the ongoing cycle of disease, not to mention all of the political hatred and dissent we have seen among our own neighbors and friends.   I have read the news about an increase in drinking and drugs that the stress and hopelessness by Covid has relentlessly delivered over the past year.  But like Amanda Gorman so eloquently put it, we need to look for light, for hope, and move fearlessly to be hope. Despite a rough dark, lonely winter, there has been hope and help, namely with the many, many meetings made available by so many people in the AA community that are still working hard to deliver the AA message, Covid or not.

Although I like most people have had my share of ups and downs, fears and failures, I have learned to appreciate what the program has taught be about being resilient, even if that means one shaky foot in front of another, in full recognition that such fears would have most certainly given me all of the justification I needed to get full-on blasted, if I were not in the program and trying to stay sober.  Today, just like any other day, it’s one day, one moment at a time, sober, trying to see light and bring light to others suffering from drug addition and alcoholism.  One of the beautiful things about the pandemic, if there is one is that now, we can go to meetings at any time of the day or night, where ever we are.

If you are drinking and don’t want to any more, there’s hope and help.  Here is an extensive list of meetings online.  All you need is the willingness and a phone.  Why not now?

Online meetings