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Month: October 2011

Mid-term break and house-hunting…

31/10/2011 Johnnyboy

The break is upon us and I have been using the time to work on my own schedule, look at possible rentals and, of course, stay a little bit more sober than yesterday.   All three have been going well and it is good to say that.  So far I have been working a lot in the darkroom and the digital lab but the apartment search has been most interesting.  For the most part it is much like anywhere with the same questions regarding power, water and so forth.  The difference is…well, no differences really except that it is not in Greece, I am sober and I doubt I’ll skip out on the rent in the middle of the night.  It has been 10 years since the last time I paid rent.  That amount varies from 200E to 550E a month and no one includes water or power and there are few if any wifi hook-ups.  We shall see.  Siga-siga, as they say in Greece–slowly, slowly.

The person with whom I had a huge blow-up last year is back this weekend for a short visit.  I have made a full amends to her and the two times I have seen her I have been cordial and polite if a little aloof.  I have forgiven her for what she said to me but that does not erase those words or how they ended our friendship.  I do not want her to be sad or hurt, but I am afraid she came here with expectations of being friends again.  That may be my own imaginings.  It would be ego-centric to believe any of this.  Still, my amends give me the ability to stay on the same side of the street with her and not have to avoid any kind of further meetings.  Tomorrow evening I’ll head to the regular Tuesday night AA meeting in Marpissa and talk about that if I need to.

All of this is not as important as I would like to make it out to be.  In the long run, these are small blips on the radar.  They point towards experiences from which I have garnered wisdom, like rocks in familiar seas I have learned to sail around.

I am also heading to Athens on Wednesday to pick up a camera I left for repair and see some friends.  I hope to hit at least one meeting while I am there, maybe two.

Johnnyboy

Greece, meetings, the future and Marcus Aurelius…

07/10/2011 Johnnyboy

Although I am not making plans I am thinking of the future.  My work in the USA is not as crucial as it was and this fall I am seeing a real possibility of moving here to Greece for a short time, maybe a year.  A full year on the island will show me what I need to do.  I am lucky that I have an ‘in’ with some of the locals via the AA network.  This is a gift of sobriety, as I see it, as long as I do not abuse the connection.

The meeting this week was good in at least two ways.  The first is the obvious: a meeting.  The second is that I was able to learn both ho to live and how not to live soberly here on a small island.   I can leave the old resentments behind and dispel the angers that others have.  Thank God I am working my program and not that of someone else.  I m alright if I stick to my program.

I have been reading Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditations’.  It is amazing what the old Emperor had to say about how to live in a world of chaos.  For him the best that one could do was to shoulder the load of a day’ work with honesty, dignity and a sense that this is only for today.  Sound familiar?  It wouldn’t surprise me if somewhere along the live Bill W, Bob or their predecessors in other programs had read ‘Meditations’ and gleaned some solid common sense form the words of a philosopher who was stuck with the job of ruler of the known world-and I thought I had tough situations!

I have now been to meetings in Italy-Florence and Rome.  My scope i widening and as it does it is reassuring to hear the same stories in the room wherever I go.  I am not unique, not hopeless and not alone.

Johnnyboy

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