Step 5 Was Like a Cosmic Toothbrush – Peggy M.

About This Speaker Tape

14th Annual South Plains Conference -

A bubble-off-a-plum with a mind that won't shut up Peggy M. describes a life spent oscillating between feeling like 'whale poop on the ocean floor' and presidential material. She recalls the wreckage of her drinking days—peeing in her purse and her shoes the 'drinking uniform' of gray stretch pants and a blue turtleneck and the terror of a world where she felt like a picket fence with no curves. Recovery for her is a matter of desperate action: tossing sunny-side-up eggs in a jittery detox center greeting newcomers at the door and washing ashtrays with 'Crazy Frank.' She views laughter as a 'cosmic toothbrush' that cleans out the spiritual grime and she finds a strange grounding grace in the moments where life is absurd—from a terrifying flight with a vodka-drinking passenger to a bird pooping on her yellow silk dress right before speaking to thousands in California.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Peggy M. opens with gratitude and a nod to the warmth of Texas fellowship.
• 6:15 Laughter: Peggy describes herself as a 'bubble-off-a-plum' and a 'binge thinker'.
• 12:40 Peggy discusses the 'holes' in her identity and the tension between self-hate and arrogance.
• 18:20 The 'Marilyn M.' effect: how beer made her feel like she had hips and a personality.
• 24:10 The story of peeing in her shoes and her purse; the 'Al-Anon eyes' of her sister.
• 31:00 The 'moment of truth' in the mirror and the 'crying from hell' that led to her first detox.
• 36:45 First steps of service: making a bed and the struggle of flipping sunny-side-up eggs.
• 42:10 The 'iron-haired' sponsor who didn't give her a choice but to be sponsored.
• 48:30 Learning social skills by practicing greeting people at the door of the 'Friendship Group'.
• 54:15 The 'cosmic toothbrush' metaphor for laughter and the story of her husband's naked Christmas gift.
• 1:02:00 The 'Venetian blind marks' and the desperation of a mother watching a child drink.
• 1:12:00 Laughter: The story of the bird pooping on her yellow silk dress before a major speaking engagement.