How OA Changed My Life Reel Comedy “Come on in! We’ve been waiting for you!” That’s what I heard as I walked through the doors of an OA meeting in 2015. Two la…
Writing Dog Talk My dogs’ unconditional love is so helpful when I can’t love myself. Dogs don’t judge my weight, my income, or my status in l…
Relationships Feeling Present We buried Bibs today. He was almost 20 years old. Bibs helped me with my OA program in death and in life. Alive, he opened m…
Working the Program Wiener Dog Wisdom I have a wonderful dachshund named Macy. Dachshunds are smart and stubborn dogs whose long bodies make them prone to back pr…
Keep Coming Back Turtle Tale I knew early on that Opie and I had a lot in common. They say, “If you spot it, you got it,” and when HP brought this rescue…
Relationships Creatures Teachers I am surrounded by many furry and non-furry “children” on my little ranch. My world revolves around them, and all have taugh…
Abstinence Need–to–Dos These are things I do to maintain abstinence: I have a sponsor. Although I often complain, procrastinate, and argue, I event…
Fellowship Big-Picture Thinking As I was trying to figure out this whole “Higher Power” thing, I found myself trying to reconcile the many different religio…
Recovery Love, Licks, and Fellowship Thank you for making “Pets and Recovery” a topic for Lifeline. My name is Chloe V., and I’ve served my local OA as a recover…
Newcomers Richer, Saner, and New I just finished my first year in OA, and it has been amazing. I am convinced it was GOD, the Gift of Desperation, that got m…
How OA Changed My Life Reel Comedy “Come on in! We’ve been waiting for you!” That’s what I heard as I walked through the doors of an OA meeting in 2015. Two ladies were sitting in the meeting room, both long timers. One of them had mov… Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Fellowship Higher Power Working the Program OA Shorts Dear Mr. Merriam, dear Mr. Webster, I write to you as a humble requester. I propose a new spelling of a certain word; The change would be seen but would not be heard. The word in question is now spell… Read More
Giving Away a Secret I have always been so guarded with every aspect of myself. Just the prospect of being exposed and having someone see the rawest, most honest version of me has been painful and terrifying to think about. My earliest memories are associated with the desperate need to be accepted by everyone at any cost, by any means necessary. I worried that … Read More
Facing It, Feeling It There it was. I had done the first three Steps with my sponsor and we both knew what was coming next. He knew it was going to be a big step in my recovery, but to me it looked more like a pending emotional breakdown. Turns out he was right. I had built a pretty good system of denial and … Read More
Recovery Beyond Measure In a few days, I will celebrate thirty-eight years of recovery in OA. Today my goal is health, sanity, and wellness, not a size 8. Physically, my body has been a normal size for many years. G-d has removed the compulsion for what I call “the hard stuff”—the stuff you see at the grocery checkout counter. I have reached a … Read More
