Peter T. at the 2nd Around The World Conference – 2020

About This Speaker Tape

Västernorrland, 1969. A small society where everyone knows your business, but no one speaks the truth. Peter T. grew up in a house where the shoes by the door told him whether it was safe to enter. His alcoholism didn't start with a drink; it started with the wreckage of a home where parents drank themselves full every day. By age five, he was stealing money and hiding it in secret spots. By seven, he was drinking his parents' aviation spirits, finding a sudden, heavy silence that drowned out the chaos.

He chased the high through firecrackers, bullying, and narcotic smuggling, eventually trading his youth for prison cells. He describes a life of "criminality and dishonesty," dreaming of a normality he couldn't grasp. After years of fighting the current, Peter T. found a Higher Power and a program that worked even when his life didn't. He now counts his sobriety in thirteen years, nine months, and two days.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Recitation of the 12 Traditions.
• 2:15 Peter T. introduces himself and welcomes newcomers.
• 4:30 Discussion of growing up in an alcoholic family and the emotional distance it created.
• 6:10 Childhood memories of stealing money from parents at age four or five.
• 8:45 Stories of bullying other children and setting fires.
• 11:20 The first time he drank alcohol at age seven from his parents' bottles.
• 14:10 The 'alcohol party' that ended in a blackout and a confrontation with police.
• 17:30 His fascination with criminal role models and the 'Ru00e4ttvisanslotteri' book.
• 20:15 The trip to Copenhagen to smuggle cannabis into his small town.
• 23:40 First prison sentence at age 18 and subsequent narcotic crimes.
• 26:50 First contact with the Minnesota model and 'Daily Reflections'.
• 28:30 The attempt to live a 'normal' life and the struggle with controlled drinking.