ESSAY August 2026 - Raising My Hand: Swearing in Meetings - Jack H., Canada

Recovery shows him the damage that swearing and sarcasm cause to others and to himself. I most often raise my hand during SA meetings when a member’s share includes successive instances of swearing. I feel and see the pain in the speaker, and that pain projected at others in the room. I hear their self-hate and feel the words burying into my similarly wounded soul. I raise my hand and often take the member aside after the meeting to explain that their swearing reminds me of how cruel and disrespectful I was to myself and inadvertently to others around me.