By Mandy R

It has been a year since we started lockdown due to Covid-19. I
have only attended a few in-person meetings in that time. But I
have continued working my program in other ways. As soon as
meetings shut down, I encouraged my homegroup to start using
Zoom to meet each week. I was already familiar with the Zoom
platform from attending some virtual meetings before Covid came
along. My sponsor suggested that I attend at least three meetings
a week, so virtual meetings were my way of supplementing without
being away from home three nights a week. There were times in
the last year that were scary and difficult, and I could attend a
meeting at any time of the day or night. I attended meetings all
over the country and even all around the world. At one point, I was
attending at least three meetings a day. There have also been
times that were incredibly mundane and boring, and my meeting
attendance dropped. But I make it a point to at least attend my
home group each week no matter what is going on. Being an
active member of a homegroup has always been a very important
part of my recovery. During this pandemic, I have done H&I on
Zoom; we held both area and NA in May subcommittee meetings
on Zoom, I have done step work with my sponsor on Zoom. Most of
my sponsees don’t do Zoom, so we find ways to go over their step
work. My recovery really hasn’t changed much other than I get to
do it from home now. Phone calls and texts have also become a
more important tool for me to use because there are some people
in the fellowship who don’t care for Zoom, so I have to keep in
touch with them in other ways. I know not everyone has enjoyed
the virtual environment we have been in for the last 12 months. I
especially feel for the newcomers who are struggling to stay clean
and FEEL the feeling that I get from in-person meetings. I can
definitely feel my higher power in the room when we are all
together. I don’t get that same feeling from a Zoom meeting. The
newcomer may have never heard us say the serenity prayer in
unison. The awful serenity prayer we attempt on Zoom does make
me laugh every week, though. And I certainly miss the hugs. I think
we have made it through the worst of the pandemic (hopefully)
and will be back together soon. I miss seeing your real faces.