Thanks so much for this post! I am 6 years sober and started in AA but never found people in it that I really connected with. I am always on the search for community that does not revolve around recovery talk and it is really hard as an adult! I live in a small city after spending most of my life in a large city so it has been tough meeting people as I find most people here have lived here all their lives so they have all the friends they need. I’m 56, single, no kids and passionate about the arts. I joined some online groups (like Dharma Recovery, which I do quite like, especially the women and non-binary meetings), sensitive Empowerment for HSPs (of which I am one), and have volunteered locally for our indie cinema and literary festival. I have made acquaintances but no close friends but I’m still hopeful! The important thing is perseverance and (gulp!) facing rejection, which is a really tough one for me. I wish Meetups were available locally where I am but no one uses them and the library programs are of limited interest to me but I keep checking in. Good luck and please contact me if you ever want to chat about all of this!
I relate to so much of this! Moved from the Bay Area to rural Washington and the options for getting involved or meetups are significantly different here (though I also grew up in the Bay, so I already had connections there. I HATE Facebook, but I've recently joined a few Facebook groups for people with similar political leanings in the area, and I'm hopeful that might result in something. We'll see! I'm also happy to chat about this offline. :)
I’m really fortunate that I started roller skating during the pandemic with one of my sober friends and we have found other friends through that. Some of our skate friends are sober but most are supportive even if they aren’t & we do other social and artsy stuff together. My system was just literally asking people to do other things I thought were fun until something stuck.
Sober 40 years this Month and have groups based on swimming, book clubs, and yes, AA but I’m choosy about those groups and people and find that “the bridge back to life” has always been there, I just had to cross it. We have an annual New Years Day party that’s neighbors, sober friends, swimmers, readers and boring people. Like life.
Thanks so much for this post! I am 6 years sober and started in AA but never found people in it that I really connected with. I am always on the search for community that does not revolve around recovery talk and it is really hard as an adult! I live in a small city after spending most of my life in a large city so it has been tough meeting people as I find most people here have lived here all their lives so they have all the friends they need. I’m 56, single, no kids and passionate about the arts. I joined some online groups (like Dharma Recovery, which I do quite like, especially the women and non-binary meetings), sensitive Empowerment for HSPs (of which I am one), and have volunteered locally for our indie cinema and literary festival. I have made acquaintances but no close friends but I’m still hopeful! The important thing is perseverance and (gulp!) facing rejection, which is a really tough one for me. I wish Meetups were available locally where I am but no one uses them and the library programs are of limited interest to me but I keep checking in. Good luck and please contact me if you ever want to chat about all of this!
I relate to so much of this! Moved from the Bay Area to rural Washington and the options for getting involved or meetups are significantly different here (though I also grew up in the Bay, so I already had connections there. I HATE Facebook, but I've recently joined a few Facebook groups for people with similar political leanings in the area, and I'm hopeful that might result in something. We'll see! I'm also happy to chat about this offline. :)
I’m really fortunate that I started roller skating during the pandemic with one of my sober friends and we have found other friends through that. Some of our skate friends are sober but most are supportive even if they aren’t & we do other social and artsy stuff together. My system was just literally asking people to do other things I thought were fun until something stuck.
I've connected with some of my brothers and sisters in the Fellowship over music and old movies.
Sober 40 years this Month and have groups based on swimming, book clubs, and yes, AA but I’m choosy about those groups and people and find that “the bridge back to life” has always been there, I just had to cross it. We have an annual New Years Day party that’s neighbors, sober friends, swimmers, readers and boring people. Like life.
Volunteering it’s exactly that simple love,E