JULY 2002 VOLUME NINETEEN NUMBER THREE “In the spirit of anonymity, we remember that no individual member or group is more important than the message we carry. The single requirement for membership helps ensure that no addict need die without having a chance to recover.” (It Works: How and Why, page 150) Anonymity: The spiritual foundation 1 Anonymity From the editor 2 Uncovering the nature of anonymity 3 The spiritual foundation Our readers write… 4 September 2002 marks the twentieth anniversary of The NA Way Magazine. The spirit of anonymity 5 In this issue of the magazine, we hope to offer a small snapshot of how the NA Anonymity is the Fellowship’s recovery journal has grown. We have gathered some articles sub- spiritual foundation 6 mitted to the NA Way over the years that addressed the topic of anonymity, Death and anonymity 7 the theme for this issue, in addition to a number of recent submissions. Anonymity 7 The magazine was first published as a monthly journal in a 5-by-8-inch for- mat. The covers for those early editions were very simple in design, but be- The misconception of anonymity 8 IN THIS ISSUE came more sophisticated as the magazine evolved. The “old” NA Way called What does anonymity really mean? 8 itself the “international journal of the NA Fellowship,” though it was published Anonymity 9 only in English and 95 percent of its material came directly from the English- A member’s thoughts speaking NA communities of North America. on anonymity 9 Today we strive to incorporate material from our members all over the world. What Tradition Twelve While technology has made this effort somewhat easier, we still publish fewer means to me 10 articles from non-US members than we would like. We hope this will improve Recovery Lit Questionnaire 10 over time. Anonymity: It’s a group effort 11 The “new” NA Way Magazine was created in 1997 by the World Service Con- “It doesn’t matter who… ” 12 ference in an effort to fulfill its editorial intent of being an international jour- nal. The current format of the NA Way is 8½ by 11 inches. Subscriptions are Seeking the “inner ‘no name’“ 13 free, and the magazine is published quarterly in January, April, July, and October. H&I Slim 14 We’ve traveled along an interesting and winding path during the last 20 Picture this 15 years, from those first 60 or so paid subscribers for an English-only version to Themes and Deadlines 16 today’s 125,000 subscribers to a magazine that is published in English, French, Calendar 17 German, Portuguese, and Spanish. We look forward to the day when our recov- WSO product update 20 ery journal can be published in all the languages of all our members! Home Group 20 Thank you, and happy anniversary, NA Way! O 1 From the editor It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since The NA Way Magazine made its de- but! For this special anniversary issue we delved into the magazine’s archives, looking for articles on anonymity. While reviewing those articles, I found myself struck by the indefinable power of this amazing program. Reading the thoughts and heartfelt shar- ing of members who were published in those earlier editions brought back so many of THE my own personal experiences in early recovery. You see, I got clean in November 1982— just three months after The NA Way began—and many of my thoughts and our opin- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ions were reflected in those articles. It has been uplifting to work on this particular OF issue—especially when I see how much our fellowship (and myself) has grown over NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS the years. Just a reminder: One of The NA Way’s goals is to include the sharing of as many non-US members as possible so that our magazine truly reflects the global fellowship that NA is becoming. However, for whatever reason, we hardly received any articles from outside the US on the topic of anonymity. We hope that in the future this will EDITOR change. We hope to one day get an equal number of articles from both our US mem- Nancy Schenck bers and our non-US members, giving our recovery journal a true international flavor. So, send those articles in … now! ☺ COPY EDITORS Here’s to another 20 years of celebrating our recovery! David Fulk Nancy S, Editor Lee Manchester TYPOGRAPHY AND DESIGN David Mizrahi PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Fatia Birault EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Susan C, Dana H, Marc S, Sheryl L World Service Office PO Box 9999 Van Nuys, CA 91409 USA Telephone: (818) 773-9999 The NA Way Magazine welcomes letters from all readers. Letters to the editor can Fax: (818) 700-0700 respond to any article that has appeared in The NA Way, or can simply be a viewpoint Website: www.na.org about an issue of concern in the NA Fellowship. Letters should be no more than 250 words, and we reserve the right to edit. All letters must include a signature, valid address, and phone number. First name and last initial will be used as the signature line unless the writer requests anonymity. The NA Way Magazine welcomes the participation of its readers. You are invited to share with the NA Fellowship in our quarterly international journal. Send us your experience in recovery, your views on NA matters, and feature items. All manuscripts submit- ted become the property of Narcotics Anonymous World Ser- vices, Inc. Subscription, editorial, and business services: PO Box The NA Way Magazine, published in English, French, German, Portuguese, and 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409-9099. The NA Way Magazine presents the experiences and opin- Spanish, belongs to the members of Narcotics Anonymous. Its mission, therefore, is to ions of individual members of Narcotics Anonymous. The opinions expressed are not to be attributed to Narcotics provide each member with recovery and service information, as well as recovery-related Anonymous as a whole, nor does publication of any article imply endorsement by Narcotics Anonymous, The NA Way entertainment, which speaks to current issues and events relevant to each of our members Magazine, or Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The NA Way Magazine (ISSN 10465-5421), The NA Way, and worldwide. In keeping with this mission, the editorial staff is dedicated to providing a Narcotics Anonymous are registered trademarks of Narcotics magazine which is open to articles and features written by members from around the world, Anonymous World Services, Inc. The NA Way Magazine is pub- lished quarterly by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., as well as providing current service and convention information. Foremost, the journal is 19737 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Periodical post- age is paid at Chatsworth, CA, and at additional entry points. dedicated to the celebration of our message of recovery—“that an addict, any addict, can POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The NA Way Magazine, PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409-9099. stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.” 2 The following is an introduction letter from the inaugural issue of The NA Way, September 1982, Volume 1, Number 1. Dear Fellow Member, We have some exciting news. The 1982 World Service Conference of Nar- cotics Anonymous has formed a new subcommittee to “administer the pub- lishing of a monthly magazine on recov- ery from addiction the NA way.” The NA Way, our magazine, can be- come a reality with your help. We need articles on recovery from addiction, per- sonal experiences on sharing our mes- sage of recovery, spiritual and inspira- tional articles, tales of humorous and thought-provoking growth experiences, stories about becoming productive, re- sponsible members of society, reflective Uncovering the one-liners with impact, personal and group experiences in practical applica- tion of our traditions. We need your input. nature of anonymity Charter subscriptions will cost $8.00 Anonymity—it’s right there in our name: Narcotics Anonymous. for twelve issues until the end of the Merriam-Webster says that anonymous can mean three things: “that something is Twelfth World Convention of Narcotics of unknown authorship or origin; something is not named; or something is lacking Anonymous. We believe this will be individuality or distinction.” In our program, the first definition does not really apply, enough to get us started. A financial re- while the second and third definitions can be applied to us in meetings, in service, port will appear in each issue so there and in how we deal with society. will be no question of accountability. We know the origins of our program. We also know about the authorship of our We will print all articles anonymously. written materials. We know that all of our literature has been written by recovering Your support will help make our dreams addicts. While we may not name the members who actually wrote the words we read a reality: to have a monthly forum for NA every day in meetings and at home, we do know that they came from groups and recovery, a journal to unify our fellow- committees of recovering addicts just like us. All of our literature has been vetted and ship worldwide. In loving service, approved by the fellowship as a whole. This is why we can look in our Just for Today The NA Way book each day and say, “Wow! That applies to what I’m going through today.” We can look at our newest recovery book, The Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guides, and know that the reason we get so much out of using them in our step work is that recovering addicts, just like us, had input into their development and approval.