The Power of Identification Through Hearing Other People’s Stories – Bridget K

About This Speaker Tape

November 1996. Living in a pub, working in a pub, married to a publican, and completely in shambles. Bridget K. describes a life built on a foundation of dishonesty that started at age eight with stolen cough mixture and a fake cough. By 17, she was a daily drinker; by 31, she was a ghost in her own life, hiding bottles and evading the truth. She recalls the wreckage of her 20s—failed exams and a professional delusion that left her blind to her own decay.

The turning point arrived through the stories of others. Hearing the raw truth in meetings allowed her to piece her life back together. She speaks of the "jumping off point" of a toxic relationship that shrunk her world until she became suicidal, only to be dragged back by a peer who called her a coward. Now, she relies on a Higher Power to manage the "lunatic" inside her, using a rewritten 11th Step to survive the workday and a dog to keep her grounded.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction by Toya and Bridget K. begins her share.
• 3:15 Bridget describes her early start with cough mixture and the 'seal' she could put on her cough at will.
• 7:40 Story about a drunk coworker in St Kilda and the realization of her own progression.
• 11:30 Discussion on the 'character we present to the world' and her inability to write back to her sister in England.
• 14:10 Bridget's struggle with the 'Higher Power thing' and her first sponsor's note about finding the group as a Higher Power.
• 18:45 The 'awakening' moment while seeing jacaranda trees on a drive to Albany.
• 23:10 The 'shrunken world' and the descent into suicidal ideation during a toxic relationship.
• 27:40 Laughter: Bridget's joke about sandwiches being a Higher Power.
• 31:20 Detailed experience with Step 11: rewriting the prayer to manage a difficult employee.
• 36:15 Reflection on the grief of not having children and the ability to love others' children.
• 40:10 Recitation of the St. Francis of Assisi prayer and its application to her family dynamics.