~ INTRODUCTION ~

Dear New Friend,

Welcome to the Journey-To-Recovery discussion group. To Subscribe, please send e-mail to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu or write to RecoveryTech@mail.com

This Journey-To-Recovery e-mail list is more than just a list in cyberspace. It is a place where those of us with compulsions can meet with others who suffer and share our experience, strength and hope with one another. It is a place where we can feel at home, it can become our cyberspace family and where we know that we will be heard and not judged. A place where your anonymity is important to us. And a place, as the poet said, "where, when we have to go there, they have to take us in."

Journey-To-Recovery will focus on food compulsions and addictions but also can include discussions relating to compulsive overeating such as Relationship Addiction, Love Addiction and Co-Dependency. While most of our members are also members of the world-wide groups of Overeaters Anonymous, CODA, Emotions Anonymous and similar groups, it is not a requirement to be. The only requirement to be a member of JTR is to have a desire to recover from our disease.

Members of this list find much emphasis on the Twelve Steps. The Twelve Traditions are the guidelines of this group along with several others which are geared mainly to Netiquette and cyberspace. Copies of the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions and our other guidelines will be sent to you separately. We are not affiliated with any other organization, e-mail list or institution.

Because this list is composed primarily of members of anonymous groups, it is not a public media of communication and thus members may use their last names if they desire. Pseudonyms are also acceptable. Readers of this list are urged to respect the anonymity of the users of this list. What you read here, what you see here, let it stay here.

Please do not pass on the messages that are posted to this list without first getting the permission of the person who originally posted the message. The daily Journey-to-Recovery is copyrighted; however, permission has been given by its author to be sent to anyone who is seeking recovery.

Our group differs from most other cyber recovery groups in many ways. One is that, while we focus on compulsive overeating, we also have discussions on related cross addictions. While the great majority of us are in recovery from compulsive overeating, we have found that many of us become cross addicted as we recover from food addiction and often find ourselves in another. Our experience has been in the recovery process of, for example, compulsive overeating ... as the weight is lost and our self-esteem returns, we find ourselves, perhaps, in a relationship addiction ... or love addiction. In the recovery process, we may also find that we are co-dependent. Not having our "drug of choice" to help us any longer, we are unable to cope. Here we find a place to discuss that.

Another way we differ from other groups is that this is a topical group. Regularly, each member is sent a copies of the Writer's Series ... inspirational messages with a wide variety of topics such as Abstinence, The Twelve Steps, Compassion, Friendships, Addiction, Compulsions, Grief, Hate, Love, Patience, Serenity, Isolation, Hope and many, many more. There is a different topic each week and the Journey-To-Recovery focuses on that topic each day of that week and sharing is related but not restricted to that topic.

Anything that one would share at a recovery meeting is welcome here. Users are particularly encouraged to share their own recovery stories knowing that no matter how insignificant the share might be to a person not deep in our disease, our words can be life saving to one who is.

Information that one might share individually with another OA member at coffee after a recovery meeting is also welcome here as long as it is of general interest to the rest of the list. Discussions of other programs are best left to other locations. Personal attacks and flames (scathing comments) are not welcome here. Commercial messages are not welcome. There will be no disruptions of the flow of this group. If someone persists in doing so, they will be asked not to. To date, there has been not a single instance of flaming or untoward behavior in this group.

In accordance with the Twelve Traditions which we honor as the guidelines of our group, a loving Higher Power (as we understand Him) as expressed in our group conscience is our ultimate authority. Our list has volunteer Trusted Servants, a List Manager and a List Coordinator. We have access to online sponsors, online recovery meetings, seminars from world renowned specialists in addiction and recovery and other offerings that make this journey that we are on more meaningful and more hopeful. We have an extraordinary 150-page Web Site on located at http://recovery.hiwaay.net

LISTSERV INFORMATION:

To post a message to the list, send e-mail to Journey-To-Recovery@maelstrom.stjohns.edu

To subscribe to the list, send a message to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu. Leave the subject line of the message blank, and put "subscribe Journey-To-Recovery" in the body of the message,followed by your name.

Example:

TO: listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu
SUBJECT: Leave Blank
Message: subscribe JTR Jane Doe

To sign off the list, send a message to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu Leave the subject line of the message blank, and put "signoff Journey-To-Recovery" in the body of the message.

Example:

TO: listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu
SUBJECT: Leave Blank
Message: Signoff Journey-to-Recovery

If you have any technical difficulties, please contact RecoveryTech@TheRecoveryGroup.org or Marisok@aol.com. Please do not contact St. Johns University.

Please file this for future reference. Many have found it helpful to create a directory in their computer called JTR and keep important messages and shares in one place.

Again .... welcome to Journey-To-Recovery ~ ~ your new home in cyberspace. We are glad you're here. "What we could never do alone, we can do together."

One Day at a Time.

Love,
Mari
Marisok@aol.com
The Recovery Group

Copyright © 1998-2001 The RECOVERY Group