Deeper Wisdom

Women within the 12 Step community experiment with the image of ”Deeper Wisdom”.

The use of “Deeper” acknowledges that our journey is one of descent. We turn inward—
instead of looking to higher powers outside of our lives for salvation, we journey “home” to ourselves. Instead of ascending to enlightened states of being that involve the denial of the self, we look deep within to reclaim forgotten aspects of ourselves.

The use of ’Wisdom’ acknowledges that in our descent, we rediscover the original Wisdom that orchestrated our movements from crawling to walking to running, our sounds from garbles to words to sentences, and our knowing of the world through our amazing senses.

We rediscover our shape-spinning center, pulsating through us in harmony with our unique interests and talents, and essence and purpose.

Inspired by “Deeper Wisdom,” women are personalizing the 12 Steps based on their own
beliefs. Step 2 as written states: “We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.” Here are some the ways women are rewriting this step to harmonize with the “god” of their understanding:

• I have come to believe in Deeper Wisdom reaches beneath the changing nature of life. I believe that my life is unfolding according to its own trustworthy design. I am restored to trust.

• I have come to trust that Deeper Wisdom has been faithful to me since childhood. I have always found a way to thrive in life. I have made a choice to live that is deep and abiding. I say it’s fragile, but I’m seeing how tenacious it truly is.

• I have come to believe that Deeper Wisdom resides within me, reaching beneath my
wounding and ineffective behaviors. Deeper Wisdom restores me to my original power:
I no longer defer to men. It restores me to my original connection: I celebrate women. It restores me to my original goodness: I embrace the rich resources within me.

- Patricia Lynn Reilly