ANONYMITY FIVE POINTS Anonymity is a sense of being anonymous. It is a feeling that comes from knowing that I am Not-God. Anonymity produces a sense of being not less than or more than but of being equal to.

The practice of anonymity has given me five gifts. These gifts are practical as well as spiritual. The gifts are the anonymities of personal protection, representation, equality, humility and unity.

When Alcoholics Anonymous was founded, the reasons for the anonymity of personal protection were probably as straightforward as the need of any newcomer for the same today. Then as now, I am sure that most came to A.A. more aware of the ”defeat” they had suffered – and the embarrassment they believed would ensue if the community knew of it than of the new life that awaited them. Newcomers have always been offered immediate respect in the assurance that the degree of their anonymity will be of their own choosing; that they, and only they, will have the right to break their own anonymity. How personally anonymous each member is outside A.A. depends on personality, line of work, nature of the community, and many other factors. The motive of personal anonymity is not to conceal nefarious activities, but rather to offer new personal dignity.

Although all members have always had the right to break their own anonymity, it soon became apparent that anonymity of representation must also be considered. In the early day’s of A.A. the breaking of one’s anonymity at the public level created a national stir. When this was done, it not only associated that individual’s personal ideas or private goals with A.A., but was also in conflict with the ego deflation so necessary to the maintenance of sobriety. Thus, harm could be done both to A.A. and to the individual.

As a result, the Eleventh Tradition – not breaking anonymity at the level of press, radio and films – was developed. That principle was extended by the decisions that no individual could speak for A.A. and that no member might be placed in a position of unqualified authority over others.

The anonymity of equality, is far harder to describe. In A.A. we need to know one another to be even somewhat functional. Nevertheless, we are all aware, through bitter experience, of our inability to gain sobriety through our own efforts. Thus, we must conclude that in meeting for our own individual benefit, we are expressing something beyond our separate capacities; that what we say in not necessarily what others hear; and that the effect on each individual is determined by a power greater than our collective abilities of either expression or action. The presence we feel within an A.A. meeting diminishes our need for personal recognition. The anonymity of equality symbolizes one A.A.’s being interchangeable with another, without any real change in the message.

In the interests of unity and of carrying the message, most members realize that if they are to be of any real use to A.A., they must be willing to inform other members of how to get in touch. We do this by exchanging phone numbers, by handing out cards, and by allowing our names to be printed in full in A.A. service publications as necessary. I like to think of this seemingly double standard as making ourselves to do God’s work while not assuming that we are more than his instruments. We see further signs of it in the evidence around us, wherein a people as self-willed as any on earth come together and place the good of our fellowship ahead of personal interest.

The anonymity of humility comes to us when the program becomes a part of us and we are able to carry it into our everyday lives. At this point, the vanity of attempting to impress others is diminished. We recognize that true dignity and inner satisfaction are determined by the rightness of what

we do. We come to know that what others see of our outward accomplishments is trivial compared to our understanding of our inner selves and our God. We learn that- paraphrasing our other co-founder, Dr. Bob – the anonymity of humility does not mean we allow others to walk over us, but rather we remember who gave us these gifts and that we thank Him for them.

Anonymity, it would seem, is another of those gifts we have been given through the force of necessity, and yet it is truly the foundation for individual and fellowship integrity.