Big Book – 2nd Annual Stay Sober for Keeps Workshop – Part 4 of 5 – 2012 – John K.

About This Speaker Tape

2nd Annual Stay Sober For Keeps Workshop - 2012

A pasta coma sets the stage for J.K.'s gritty breakdown of the Fourth Step. He rejects the 'cathartic' eight-hour reading sessions of his past favoring a streamlined column-based approach to inventory that prevents the alcoholic from stewing in their own justification. J.K. describes the 'envelope inventories' he did with his brother Chris C. in an Anchorage airport proving that the wreckage of the soul can be cleared in twenty-five minutes if the willingness is there. The narrative shifts from the technicalities of the Big Book to the visceral: a man with Aryan Brotherhood tattoos who walked into a house intending to kill his father but left having forgiven him and J.K.'s own struggle to walk away from the neon lights of Dallas strip joints. It is a map of the distance between the 'patina of ugliness' and the sunlight of the spirit emphasizing that the only way out is through the action of amends.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 J.K. opens with a joke about being in a pasta coma.
• 2:15 Discussion of the Fourth Step and the danger of 'garbage blocking me from Higher Power'.
• 5:40 Laughter: J.K. describes his first 'cathartic' Fifth Step in 1996 as an eight-hour ordeal.
• 10:12 Detailed breakdown of the column-based inventory process and the role of the sponsor.
• 15:30 Q&A: Discussion on backtracking to Step One if a person relapses during the Fourth Step.
• 22:10 The 'envelope inventory' story: J.K. and Chris C. in the Anchorage airport.
• 31:45 The story of Jim and the Aryan Brotherhood: a journey from a pistol to a hug.
• 42:10 J.K. shares his experience with the 'strip joints' in Dallas and the feeling of being blocked by his Higher Power.
• 51:20 Guidance on Step Eight and Nine: how to organize an amends list by financial priority.
• 58:15 The story of the Starbucks amends and the 'stick and move' approach to reconciliation.