Ocean and Bay Intergroup logo

Serving OA in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts  


August 2014

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In This Issue
Laughter is Recovery
Prison Initiative
Wicked Awesome Recovery
Items Needed for Raffle Baskets
Step Eight
Treasurer's Report

Meeting List

 

* Please call ahead to verify meetings are taking place, especially during holidays. 


Ocean & Bay Intergroup
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, September 2
We will be making corrections to and voting upon our bylaws.  

If you've always wondered what Intergroup is all about, we invite you to come check it out. No official representation or commitment required, just come as a guest and see what it's like.

 

We meet on the first Tuesday of each month and all are welcome.
  • Literature Sales 7:00-7:30 pm
  • Intergroup Meeting 7:30-8:30 pm 
St. Patrick Catholic Church, 2068 Cranston Street, Cranston, RI 02920.

Intergroup Board
CONTACT US  

Ocean & Bay Email

Kara, Chair


Natalie, Vice Chair

Susanna, Treasurer

Tina, Recording Scretary  
 

Mission & Vision
Ocean & Bay Intergroup is dedicated to supporting individuals in need of recovery from compulsive eating (e.g.: overeating, bulimia, anorexia) through carrying the OA message and empowering all meetings within the Intergroup. 

 

Strategic Goals 
1. Help members strengthen their personal recovery 
2. Increase the number of sponsors 
3. Increase the number of newcomers 
4. Increase the retention of newcomers 
5. Help those in relapse 
6. Inspire people to give more service 
7. Increase outreach activities, including outreach to members and healthcare professionals 


Strong Abstinence Checklist & Writing Exercise
Writing and abstinence are two tools of the program that have helped countess individuals in their recovery journey.  Use this valuable tool every day to support you in keeping your abstinence strong.

 Click here to download the Strong Abstinence Checklist & Writing Exercise. 
 


 

 

We're in the dog days of summer. The term comes from the period when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose at the same time as the sun. Marked by hot, humid weather, dog days were believed to be an evil time when dogs went mad. Other effects, according to the ancients, were droughts and disease.

No doubt, extreme heat can make me cranky, but not at the expense of my abstinence. I am powerless over the weather, my food, and the disease of compulsive eating. Only a power greater than myself can restore me to sanity during the summer and any other season...one dog day at a time.

 

In humble service,
"As Always"

Kara
Intergroup Chair 

 

P.S. The 2014 World Service Business Conference Report is now available. 

Laughter is recovery

As a compulsive overeater, my mind and spirit want what my body doesn't need. This disconnect, which is part of my disease and unguided approach to life, makes me naturally at odds with, well, me. Increased laughter then has been a proof of recovery and progress in my life. How so? Laughing is the acme of being. When I am struggling with abstinence and the minutes feel like days, the physical recovery not "fast enough," with anxiety creeping across my shoulders to lie in wait, laughter brings my mind and heart back above my feet. It's so hard to live in another moment, either the wreckage of the past or the "what-ifs" of the future, in the midst of a big belly-laugh shared with my sponsor or another fellow in program. Not only can laughter transcend differences--race, religion, politics, language, etc.--between people, as program itself does, but I don't know that there are many other times when my body, mind and spirit are so instantly on the same page. Isn't that recovery and program working? Isn't that what this is all about, belly-laughing in the face of my unguided, unaided destructive mind and spirit?

- Brittany M. 

Prison Initiative
As our 5th Tradition states: "Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers."

Ocean & Bay Intergroup has partnered with the R.I. Department of Corrections (DOC) to bring OA to the women's prison. We are looking for volunteers who are willing to attend occasional meetings at the prison. A background check is required and volunteers do have to attend a training run by the DOC. The service will substantial to these woman and satisfying for you.

Contact Natalie or Kara for more information, and click here to complete form.

Wicked Awesome Recovery

October 24-26, 2014 
Burlington, MA       

August 1 to October 24 is exactly 12 weeks, and there are 12 great reasons to go to the Convention!

12 - The Burlington Marriott Hotel is just 5 minutes off Interstate 95.
11 - The hotel offers a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools and whirlpool tub.
10 - Starbucks coffee served!
 9 - There is a HUGE shopping mall about a mile away.
 8 - Free shuttle to the huge shopping mall.
 7 - Sign up for the hotel/meal package and you've got 5 abstinent meals in the bag.
 6 - You can stay up all night with your new best friend/roommate!
 5 - You will leave with at least 5 new phone numbers.
 4 - If you're struggling, this is a great opportunity to kick-start your recovery.
 3 - More than 50 workshops and meetings over the course of the weekend.   
 2 - Three keynote speakers to share their experience, strength and hope.
 1 - You'll be with hundreds of fellow OAs living Wicked Awesome Recovery!

Register before August 15 for a discount!

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Items Needed for Raffle Baskets
At Convention, themed baskets are contributed by individual members, groups and Intergroups; and they are raffled off during the weekend. Please consider donating items or monetary contributions so that Ocean and Bay can be represented. All items will be collected  at next month's Intergroup meeting on September 2.

For more details, click here or contact Kara.

This is a unique, creative and fun service opportunity!
Step Eight

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

 

Currently in the process of completing my Step Eight, I remember that when I first came into program my mind froze in fear at the thought of making amends. Surely there must be a way to stop eating compulsively without facing those people whom I had harmed. I thought I could find an easier, softer way. I heard a fellow say something that helped me. She said by the time she had reached Steps Eight and Nine, she was prepared to make amends. I marched on faithfully.

 

By the grace of God, by the time that I reached my Eighth Step, I was prepared. In fact, as I review with my sponsor the list of people I have harmed, I look forward to the act of making amends. It is so important that I go through this process with my sponsor. She lets me know when I should not make an amend because it would hurt the other person. Overall, as I go through Step Eight, my sponsor makes Step Nine a safer place to be. A place where I make amends to others, not to hurt myself, but to clean up my side of the street.

-Maya G. 

Excerpted from "Metro Memo,"

the monthly newsletter of New York Metro Intergroup  

Treasurer's Report
Our  Seventh Tradition states that OA is fully self-supporting, accepting contributions only from OA members. Thank you for your generosity that allows us to continue our shared mission to carry OA's message of recovery.

August Treasurer's Report

What does OA do with your contributions?
Ocean & Bay Intergroup 
P.O. Box 41273, Providence RI, 02940
Tel: 401-438-1301 | Email: oceanandbay@yahoo.com