marinadock.orgNon-Profit Corporation |
The Marina Dock Newsletter May 2004Dear Marina Dock Members and Patrons, How does The Marina Dock survive? How is The Marina Dock surviving? And how will The Marina Dock survive tomorrow? The answer to all three questions is, “one day at a time.” It’s important for me to remember that it makes life, for me, so much easier, and definitely much more manageable. How many times have we heard old-timers say over the years, “the longer I stay sober the more real the slogans become, and the more I utilize them." Slogans that seemed so trite and hackneyed when we first came around. It’s amazing how any of us, no matter how long we are sober, can drift. I found myself of late, not in an earthshaking or obvious way, but doing it nevertheless, deviating from an AA fundamental, the principle of “first things first.” What a tangled web we weave. A couple of days ago I found myself wrestling with multiple deadlines. All of them expiring within 24 hours. For the first time in a long time, I was seized by more than a hundred forms of fear and self-deception. I just felt completely overwhelmed as that age old enemy - rationalization - raised its ugly head. The Answers Do ComeAs I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge on this beautiful Spring afternoon with a head full of problems and zero solutions, I decided to escape momentarily into the world of 97.1 FM. There happened to be an interview with a woman psychologist about the insidious and devastating health problems associated with stress. In response to a question by the interviewer, on how to cope and reduce levels of stress in our daily living, the psychologist, who sounded very centered and together, used the words “spiritual” and “deep inhalation” in the same context. Several times throughout the interview she made reference to the term spiritual as a solution to stress. Spiritual! Now that sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that before? Then I remembered years ago, when I first came around, I would be stressed out all the time. I would ask Randy Campbell, now deceased, for his experience, strength, and hope on such matters. Old Randy who was then almost blind and in poor health would pause and turn to me and say, “Breathe deeply and walk slowly.” By the time I arrived at Greenwich Street, the fear and impending doom has all but left me, and I found myself back on a schedule of “one day at a time." To use a line from our 12x12, “Whenever we have a problem, no matter what the cause, the solution is more spiritual growth.” Thank you, God. 12 Step Meeting NewsJust to bring you up to date on the number of different 12-Step meetings and workshops currently available at The Marina Dock. We have, on average, 11 AA meetings everyday at The Marina Dock. There is a new women’s Alanon meeting on Thursday evening in the East Room at 7:15 PM. We now have Narcotics Anonymous meetings 7 days a week and SLAA meetings several days a week. We have an Art Therapy Workshop, conducted by Jody Hayes, on Wednesday evenings twice a month as well as a great 4th Step Workshop every Monday night. There is an AA Secretaries Workshop once a month on Saturdays early afternoon (this workshop focuses on the “AA Traditions” which are vitally important to all of us now and in the future.) If you want more information on any of these meetings or workshops pick up a schedule at 2118 Greenwich Street or you can download the information from our website at www.marinadock.org. Anyone expressing an interest in starting a new 12-step meeting at our facility should contact us either by e-mail or talk to the person behind the counter. Contributions and DonationsOver the last few years it has become increasingly obvious to me, that in order to stay solvent as a non-profit, you must continuously ask for money. Everyday I listen to National Public Radio or KQED or some other charitable institution or trust pitching for funds. In some cases the requests for funding extends over several days or weeks and it actually made me feel OK about the fact that we only ask for contributions once a month. I would like to remind those who do contribute that your generosity is greatly appreciated and we could not provide the services that we do, without you. There are a few individuals who come through every month, including the five and ten dollar individuals, without whom we could not survive. I want everyone to know you are not forgotten. As Bill (Gates) Sees ItAs I mentioned, the Marina Dock has its own web presence at www.marinadock.org. There you can find out about upcoming meetings, download our entire schedule, find donation information, links to additional recovery resources and of course, read the current newsletter. Anyone with a penchant for further discovery of the Marina Dock story can also read every other newsletter from the past two years in the archive. Since we gave the site an overhaul couple of years back, well over a million unique users have viewed our web pages. We're now up there in the Google stakes when it comes to searching for AA meetings in San Francisco. As a reminder that our stories relate in a global as much as a general way, you might like to know that we have Marina Dock patrons in exotic places as far afield as Japan, Ireland, Thailand, Germany and, I think, Martinez, regularly logging on to keep up with the latest happenings at 2118 Greenwich Street. Indeed, every couple of weeks some Dry Dock patron, who has moved away from San Francisco or we thought had taken time out to do more research, sends us an e-mail of fond remembrance, letting us know that they’re still a strong friend of Bill’s and wishing they had a place like the Marina Dock in their locality. The last one we heard from was Dan C., now in Arizona. It’s good to hear from you all and your stories, so keep the e-mails coming.
Anthony T. Murray "Irish Tony" |
