Day 40 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I went to the Fellowship Under the Stars Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting.

I’ve been in recovery for a few 24 hours, and my therapist recently suggested that I go to more 12-step meetings. I was feeling of bit lonely tonight, so I jumped on the Phoenix AA website to see what meetings were in my area. On the list was a meeting that I had never heard of: Fellowship Under the Stars. It’s an outdoor meeting that meets on the north bank of Tempe Town Lake.

Sometimes it’s nice to go to meetings that I’ve never been to before. On one hand, it gives me a way to be quiet, shy, and avoid connecting with people (behavior that is not encouraged by my therapist). On the other hand, when I go to a new meeting, I get to just be a person. Nobody knows what I do for a living, my talents, or my accomplishments. I’m just another guy in the program. When I go to meetings where people know me, I get to connect more; however, people also ask me about my work and my projects, and it’s too easy to get caught up in talking about what I do rather than how I feel. And one of my challenges is allowing myself to be a human being, rather than a human doing.

The meeting was fabulous. I loved that it was outside in the fresh air and under the increasingly darkening night sky. It’s a speaker/discussion meeting, one of my preferred formats for AA meetings. We kept the bugs away with awesome smelling citronella candles, and some people brought their dogs. I really enjoyed it. The next time I go, I hope I can bring Rosie.

In case you missed it: Day 39 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I Love My Clients!