The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Oh vey! We had our pre-Christmas domestic melt-down this week. Had our alanon meeting tonight and thankfully the home front was back in shape by then. Glad that the programme works for me day by day. Our group has a steady membership of five, with visitors sometimes. Our group was in recess fpr about 6 years. A couple of us older timers decided to crank it up again 18 months ago. In this out of the way place membership is built up one by one. We had no banners of our own and were using AA ones. One of the groups further south had a spare set and we had them up tonight- what a Christmas present!
Since becoming a GR I have been exposed to policy issues, and to other older members in other communities. Its a great buzz. I was very lucky to have these online resources. I had gotten over most of the anger and rage in relation to my family. But I had anger and greivances against Alanon. Its all good. Being able to share in a safe place enabled me to upload these- and to put them in place. Its been along journey but a good one. Progress, not perfection.
We have our next assembly coming up in March. Its at a local marae in the far south. AA and Alanon. Its the most southern assembly in the world afaik, but not the most southern marae. There is one out on Ruapuke Island. Bluff is an old seat of our family my grandfather went to school there. When fighting in France 1914-18 he met up with many of his schoolmates, most of whom were members of the local Kai Tahu tribe.
I stayed down there with my grandmother a fair bit. Me and dad went out on the oyster boat with my uncle. My uncle was a bit different because he was brown! Coming from the mountains meeting up with him was a new exerience for me. I became aware that he viewed the world a bit differently. when i called at the house he would lay out a meal for me, even when it wasn't a meal time. I remember seeing a bit of rubber tyre in his fridge. It was paua. [Black abalone]. Through that rite he bound me into the family forever.
I became aware that there was some racism directed at my uncle. he and his four brothers had served in the Maori Battalion in WW II. Rana had been a sergeant and his older brothers officers. The racism disgusted me. In 1972 my uncle hung himself. The impact on my cousins was awful and real tough on my aunty. My rite of passage in that year was to lose two uncles. My other uncle killed himself too. He went into the navy at the age of 15. Something fairly funny went on in that family. There were 6 in the family and all four boys were gay. Both my uncles were big drinkers. I don't think I was ever a trendy liberal. My beliefs and convictions were based on real life experience...
it is great to know that our southern AA and Alanon has assemblies at the ancestral house of the local people. Since alcohol was introduced over 200 years ago it wrecked havoc on lots and lots of families. I know quite a few of them. Including my step-father.
I have my own tale of woe. But out of that is hope, and even joy. I think it is healthy to reflect on the sacrifice of others in the family. To be inspired by them. It is a great motivation to seek change in myself.
There but for the grace of God go I.
Me te aroha ka haere ahau.
Getting by until March will be a treat. To be invited to such a spiritual place as a marae is tumeke [great!] It has all the depth I find in Alanon. Both laughter and tears.
thanks so much for the listen...
kei te whakarongo he kia ora e koe
Wishing all a Happy Christmas and a fulfilling and prosperous New Year!
I read this with interest in the similarities...alcohol and indigenous peoples and indigenous people involved in foreign disputes and wars. I am powerless over hindsignt even as it continues to go on. I'm sober and no longer involved in alcoholism...additionally my mana is firmly reset in the culture and its suvival and growth. Live is soooo interesting now as I participate with the program helping me to reclaim my spiritual, native connection serenely or more serenely than before. Aloha ke Akua...God is Love and the absense of fear.
My big dilemma for next year is about Alanon and ACA... but that can wait- its not a big deal. Being a half caste- Welsh and English is not a big deal in this part of the world. My countryman David Samwell [Dafydd ddu Feddig] witnessed the death of Capt. Cook at Kealakekua. I guess i have wisdom and insight into all sides of the story there! Looking like a spook, and talking and acting like a bro, is a big deal for a lot of people. But I am getting old- no longer round the kitchen or the hangi, umu, lovo or whatever, one of the boys in my time- but now respected in my own way. A citizen of the wider world.
For me whanau is seamless. It works for me and offers hope and security, for the old and for the young. I am so glad I came this way, our higher power is pleased.
Ma Te Atua he manaaki he arahi...
May the Lord and Lady of all things both guard and guide us all...
We had our pre-Christmas domestic melt-down this week. Had our alanon meeting tonight and thankfully the home front was back in shape by then. 
Glad that the programme works for me day by day. Our group has a steady membership of five, with visitors sometimes. Our group was in recess fpr about 6 years. A couple of us older timers decided to crank it up again 18 months ago. In this out of the way place membership is built up one by one. We had no banners of our own and were using AA ones. One of the groups further south had a spare set and we had them up tonight- what a Christmas present!
rage