Meetings Tools & Concepts Real Meetings By kmcguire@oa.org Posted on July 1, 2020 3 min read 1 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr I remember ten years ago or so emailing my sponsor and asking her if an online meeting was really a meeting. Her immediate response was “absolutely.” Thank heavens she said that. Her support helped quiet that perfectionist in my mind that was telling me I had to go to a face-to-face meeting or it wouldn’t count. Yes, face-to-face meetings are so good for me personally because I look into the eyes of others and get honest. They see me, and I see them. Phone meetings are just as good for me, but in a different way: they are there whenever I need them. They have helped me get through some very difficult times, especially because I travel a great deal. We’ve even started an informal OA phone meeting where a handful of us dial in, read For Today and Voices of Recovery, and share on each reading. We support one another locally and this little meeting is five days a week for whoever needs it. Our local face-to-face meeting is held on Saturday mornings, and it is a hybrid meeting because it also offers a private call-in number for members and guests who cannot drive into the city. I live in a rural area outside the city, and this has been a lifeline (pardon the pun). Given the times we are in, with the looming threat of a pandemic, the phone meetings allow us to maintain our recoveries both locally and all over the world. I truly credit phone and online meetings in conjunction with the face-to-face meetings for keeping me in recovery for more than twenty years. — Melissa
