Serenity Break Online
Can't stop drinking? There is a solution...
Welcome!
Serenity Break Online is an “open” meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous on the Internet, originally based in the Seattle area. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.
We meet Monday through Saturday on Zoom. Meetings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday are at noon Pacific time and open to all. Wednesday meetings are also at noon Pacific and are split into separate Women's and Men's groups. Saturday's meeting is at 9:00 AM Pacific and open to everyone. Details below:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The AA International Convention will take place from July 3 - 6, 2025, at the Vancouver Convention Centre and BC Place Stadium. Visit the AA World Services website for more details: https://www.aa.org/international-convention.
Pine Lake Speakers Meeting: Pine Lake Covenant Church, 1715 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, WA 98075. Monthly, 2nd Saturday of each month 7PM Pacific. https://www.liveatpinelake.org/ Zoom: 977 787 8779 Pwd: 1212
The Big Book of AA (page 85) says: “We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Here's a useful reference for working the steps and maintaining your "spiritual condition" from Dave F: The 12 daily Prayers, Meditations & Visions
Bridging the Gap Online is always looking for people who are interested in "Online Bridging" -- which consists of helping a new person leaving treatment or rehab to become acquainted with AA online and to learn about the AA program and the community of online AA meetings. Sponsorship is not requirement of Bridging the Gap, but acting as a temporary contact to help with Zoom Online Meetings would be helpful. Sign up here.
Bazillions of online meetings here: https://aa-intergroup.org/meetings/ -- there are 2,679 groups and 8,096 meetings listed.
The Story of Irma Livoni - is the reason behind Tradition Three: "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking." Also there is a very thoughtful and interesting Grapevine article on Tradition Three and "Singleness of Purpose".
District 25 Treatment Center Committee ongoing commitments can be found here. Please consider supporting these online Zoom meetings with your presence.
Young People's Video Project! How would you carry the message that would relate to the “young” alcoholic who has yet to come to AA? We want video submissions from A.A. members. WHY? To carry A.A.’s message to young people in high school, college settings, or any setting. Share your experience!
Eastside Intergroup is still looking for members willing to speak in middle school and high school classrooms. Click here for more information.
Grapevine is still collecting up to 7-minute-long stories from the Fellowship in the form of audio recordings. Learn more here.
The Area 72 Technology Committee is still looking to recruit those with technology skills. Here’s a form to fill out to make yourself available.
Memorable Quotes
"Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.’s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.’s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity."
--- Forward to the 4th Edition of the Big Book of AA
"Isolation is the dark room where I develop my negatives"
--- Josh B SBOnline
"Pain is inevitable, suffering and misery are optional, redemption is possible. We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy. There are two kinds of pain, one that hurts you, and the other that changes you."
-- Heard at a meeting
"I've been through some terrible things in my life. Some of
them have actually happened."
--- Heard in a meeting
“A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
― Dinah Maria Craik
"Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave, that was so dreaded, has become the center."
---Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
"When we are reduced to our last extreme,
there is no further evasion.
The choice is a terrible one.
It is made in the heart of darkness. . .
when we who have been destroyed and
seem to be in hell miraculously choose God!
Perhaps none of us could achieve true adult
maturity—or a relationship with God—
without having the foundations of our lives
shaken. . . .When our defiant wills led us to
the utter bottom of our despair,
we finally turned to a Power greater than
ourselves and found a new way to live."
--- Thomas Merton
"Nanakorobi yaoki" (literally: seven falls, eight getting up)
Means: "fall down seven times and get up eight."
No matter how many times you get knocked down,
you get up again. Even if you should fall one thousand times, you just keep getting up and trying again.
--- Japanese Proverb
Twenty Questions for Alcoholics
We are not a glum lot! Humor helps us cheerfully trudge the road of
happy destiny. So we say this in jest and mean no offense!
Apologies in spirit of Rule 62 to the REAL GSO FAQ (formerly "44 Questions)
and the new "Self Assessment".
Have you ever fallen asleep in the sun and gotten a
sunburn on the roof of your mouth?
Did you only drink on days ending in "y?"
Have you ever been hit by a parked car or a tree
while driving?
Have you ever run over yourself while driving?
After reading about the bad effects of drinking,
did you decide to quit reading?
Can you put vodka in a humidifier? Asking for a friend.
After 4-6 drinks, do you start using the word
"fuck!" as a comma?
Do you think that the best cure for a hangover is
being under 25?
Have you ever thought that "being clean and
sober" means you've showered and are heading
to the liquor store?
Have you ever thought that drinking at home is
so much better than the bar because there's
no last call and you can be naked?
Have you ever thought about taking the bag out
of a box of wine so you can use it as a pillow to
suckle yourself to sleep?
Have you ever had to use clues laying around you
to reconstruct what the fuck you did last night?
Does this sound like you?
Liquor store assistant: "Hey, do you need help?"
Me: "Yes, but I decided to come here instead."
Have you ever wanted to have a glass of wine,
and realized it's not even noon and you're at work?
Have you ever thought drinking is another way of
saying, "I want where I wake up to be a surprise?"
Do you think that "to drink responsibly" means
"don't spill it?"
Is it still considered wine tasting if you're on the
third glass?
Have you ever used an AA Big Book as a coaster?
Have you ever wondered whether this is a
warning, or a suggestion? "Alcohol may intensify
the effects of this medication."
Son: Hey Dad, what's an alcoholic?
Dad: Well Son, do you see those 4 cars?
An alcoholic would see 8.
Son: Dad, there are only 2 cars.
FOR Questions or additional information please reach out to: [serenitybreakaa@gmail.com]