Mini blogs are for the PA-A Facebook group/page, Instagram, LinkedIn and other relevant social media platforms. All blogs will be posted under PA-A and be anonymous.
You do not need to have worked all the steps or have a sponsor. This is an avenue to connect with new folks that have no idea about our community or that there are other options to coping and dealing with PA.
Please take a moment to consider how you found out about PA-A. In all likeliness it was through social media, or a google search. All of those options are because other people were being of service and letting people know about the existence of our community.
Mini bogs are simple snippets of recovery. The intent is to have a more diverse and inclusive perspective of what a 12-step program and how it relates to life and struggling with PA. They mini blogs will need to be recovery based so please be cognizant of this.
This is a very simple low threshold form of outreach. This a a12 step call.
A 12-step call is “Carrying the message to others/new comers struggling with PA”
WHAT ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS TO INCLUDE IN A MINI BLOG?
1- Past experiences. (examples below)
- What it was like at your first meeting.
- How challenging it was to get to the first meeting.
- What was your experience with 12-steps and how has it changed since joining the group?
- What the fellowship means to you.
- How have you changed since attending meetings?
- What do you understand today that you didn’t understand before attending meetings?
- What were your expectations before attending a meeting? How have they changed?
2-It also includes everything in real time that relates to your recovery. (examples below)
- How is it working with a sponsor?
- How did you get your first sponsor? Was it scary?
- How is it to sponsor another person?
- What is your favorite step and why?
- How a step related to your life today?
- How your spiritual practice is evolving?
- How you practice the steps with your kids and family?
- What was hard today and how is it different from before the program?
- What is the most important tool you use on a daily basis?
3-Another option is sharing your experience about a particular step and a related question from paths to recovery. (examples below)
- Pick a step you would like to answer a question for.
- Pick a question for that particular step from this link.
- Write you answer to the question as your mini blog.
- Please make sure to provide the step & numbered question as your blurb.
4-Courage to change mini blog (examples below)
- Pick 1-4 sentences from any courage to change reading. This will be your blurb.
- Please indicate the page that the blurb came from.
- Write your mini blog based on the reading you selected.
5-Writing on foundational trainings is also welcomed.
- How had NVC supported your recovery?
- How do you use NVC in your life?
- How has meditation supported your recovery?
- How does meditation manifest in your life?
We need as many folks as possible to make some time for this service work.
What does service work look like in relation to these mini blogs?
- Decide how many blogs you are willing to contribute a week. This will be an ongoing commitment until you decide otherwise. We have found that two is very easy to manage.
- Decide how you would like to be identified. Alienated/partially alienated/reconnected but suffering from the effects of alienation– mom, dad, parent or some other term that resonates with you.
- Create your blogs and email them.
- The blogs will be 2-3 paragraphs long. (please see some examples attached)
- You will need a blurb from the blog or one that you create for the blog. The blurb will be used with a diagram as the primary graphic on the post. (please see some examples attached)
- Contact Anna J and decide the day of the week you will have your blogs posted. Please email her or WhatsApp her with any questions and or clarifications.
- freemcivor@gmail.com 403-999-0867 (WhatsApp)
- Anna J the managing volunteer will then schedule your blogs for a specific day and time. (early or late). They will let you know when they are posted in case you want to engage.
MINI BLOG EXAMPLES… PLEASE VISIT PA-A FACEBOOK GROUP LINK FOR 100’S OF EXAMPLES
1-“Finding my voice in recovery” – (THIS IS THE BLURB THEY SUBMITTED)
MINI BLOG
“When I first joined pa-a I felt very lost and powerless. I had just been through a prolonged and painful divorce, and was feeling the unbearable pain of no contact with my kids.
I had no experience with 12 step programs, no knowledge of how they were set up or how they worked. I didn’t really know what I wanted from the program, other than some respite from the pain, and the chance to connect with other parents.
My growth in recovery has been huge, and on many different levels. The program places a lot of emphasis on self-care and power over self, and it turns out that this was exactly the kind of work I needed to do in order to improve my quality of life.
The work hasn’t always been easy, given that I am so accustomed to being a people pleaser. Years of conditioning and exposure to a dysfunctional family system are also big challenges for me – it takes consistent work and perseverance to start to undo these patterns.
With encouragement from my sponsor, fellow attendees and meetings, I am now feeling like a much more whole and centered version of myself. I am finding my own voice and truth, rather than living according to the voices and desires of others.”
–ALIENATED MOM OF TWO TEENAGE BOYS (PLEASE PROVIDE HOW YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR ANONYMOUS SIGNATURE TO LOOK)
2- “In my old life, the tendency of avoidance of difficult issues had been the backbone to trying to cope with life.” – (THIS IS THE BLURB THEY SUBMITTED)
“The PA-A Newcomers Booklets (PA-A.org) succinctly says “recovery means recovering a relationship with self”. In trying to recover myself thru working the twelve steps, the recognition of a downcast push in my countenance caused by ignoring an issue is a prodding reminder I need to pay attention to my own body/mind.
Discomfort it turns out, is a friend who offers help to restore that relationship with self. Instead of suppressing my feelings out of fear or needing to attend to others, inviting my feelings to surface allows my real self to emerge. In step 1, my unhealthy connections to others are recognized and I attempt to leave them to the side to allow my living in truth and walking with increased confidence.
These changes of improved living techniques tend to provide an accumulating effect. Sitting, looking & waiting for recognition brings peace both in the time for myself and the value I bring to my life’s worth. Instead of daily eruptions caused by avoidance, life becomes sweet, calm, refreshing and it even beckons for a future of hope. It takes, practice and work, but it has arrived.
This is entirely the place I want to be in to see my kids again. I want this for them. I want this for myself. I want to show them what’s possible in life.”
–ALIENATED FATHER (PLEASE PROVIDE HOW YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR ANONYMOUS SIGNATURE TO LOOK)
3- “If I feel ashamed, I need a reality check because my thinking is probably distorted. Even though it may take great courage, if I share about MY SHAME with a PA-A friend, I will interrupt the self-destructive thoughts and make room for a more loving and nurturing point of view. With a little help, I may discover that even my most embarrassing moments can bless my life by teaching me to turn in a more positive direction.” -(THIS IS THE BLURB THEY SUBMITTED FROM COURGE TO CHANGE)
“Parental alienation wants me feeling ashamed, guilty & confused. It wants me lost and distracted.
This keeps the disease strong and allows it to flourish.
Once I start working on my emotional, spiritual and physical recovery the disease no longer has the hold over me it once did.
This doesn’t make everything better or the make the pain and struggles go away. What it does do is gives me a chance to flourish & to build a sane and meaningful life.
From this place of support, I have a chance to change my life! To show up for my kids from a grounded, resourced loving place.”
–ALIENATED FATHER AND GRANDFATHER FATHER (PLEASE PROVIDE HOW YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR ANONYMOUS SIGNATURE TO LOOK)
Anna J will be the managing volunteer, they can be reached at
- freemcivor@gmail.com 403-999-0867 (WhatsApp)
Please let Anna J know if you have any suggestion to improve this email or some additional prompts that might be useful to you.
