Marce W. at the Eleventh Step Meeting – 1985

About This Speaker Tape

Eleventh Step Meeting - 1985

A collective memory session at the 25th anniversary of the Lake Brownwood conference where the air is thick with the smell of old barracks and the weight of a quarter-century of sobriety. Marce W. leads a meditative walk through the 12 Steps treating the process as a spiritual muscle to be flexed. The room becomes a living archive as old-timers like Joe C. and Don A. trade jabs about who dressed better and recount the early days of the retreat—from borrowing money to get there to the 'clothes horses' from Midland who looked like they stepped out of Neiman Marcus. The narrative shifts from the grit of early drug addiction and insomnia to the soft power of Al-Anon sponsors and the birth of the Young People's Conferences at Lake Whitney illustrating how a small gathering in the Texas boondocks grew into a lifeline for generations of seekers.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Marce W. explains the origins of the Eleventh Step meeting and the purpose of the Brownwood gathering.
• 5:15 Marce W. begins the meditative walk through the 12 Steps, starting with Step 1 and the admission of powerlessness.
• 10:20 Guided meditation on Step 4 and the fearless moral inventory.
• 14:30 Discussion on Step 9 and the practice of making living amends.
• 18:10 Laughter and music: The song 'Into His Presence We Are Going Now' is played/sung.
• 25:40 Joe C. recounts the history of the Lake Brownwood retreat and the influence of the Blackstone retreat.
• 35:15 Johnny B. shares his experience with drug addiction, insomnia, and the coincidence of meeting Dr. Gene S.
• 42:10 Octavia B. discusses her first Al-Anon sponsor, Mary Lee J., and the early days of Al-Anon at the conference.
• 52:15 Don A. shares his memories of the 'boondocks' and the early tension between country folk and the Midland group.
• 58:40 Marce W. describes the origin of the Young People's Conferences at Lake Whitney.