The Inner Work– Episode 2 — Starting From Zero – Segment 1

There’s a thing that’s happened to you that you’ve never told anyone. Not because it’s a secret — because you don’t have a name for it. You were doing something ordinary. Doing dishes at midnight. Driving home from a meeting. Watching your kid sleep. And for about two seconds, the moment got bigger than the moment. Something stirred. Then, flash, it was gone, and you were back at the sink calling it weird.

In Episode 2 – Start From Zero – Segment 1 of The Inner Work, Eric Miller sits with the story of a man he calls Alex — two years sober, did the full step work and it took, sponsors others, chairs meetings. By every measure he made it. And still, standing in the life he prayed for, there’s a room in him with the lights off.

This one is for the men who thought getting sober was the finish line and found out it was a door. If you check the “none” box on the religious-affiliation form, if church burned you, if you’re unchurched or de-churched and still sense there’s something more — you’re not starting behind. You’re starting from zero. And zero is a fine place to start.

A big part of this episode names something the program doesn’t always have a lane for: who do you even tell? Your sponsor’s lane is how not to drink, working the steps, accountability to the program — an important lane, and not this one. This is where a trained spiritual director comes in, and it’s worth being clear on the difference. A sponsor helps you stay sober. A director is educated and formed to help you tell the difference between a psychological event and an actual movement of your higher power — to help you notice where God is showing up in ordinary life, and what action the moment is inviting, without ever directing you into something you don’t believe. Eric points to the Twelve and Twelve itself, pages 58 and 60, where the term “Spiritual Advisor” already lives — and cautions that anyone can call themselves a director, so ask about training and formation before you trust one.

You’ll also get a practice you can start this week. Notice one moment that felt bigger than it should have — but don’t go hunting for it, because you won’t catch it that way. Just stay awake to it. And when you believe it’s happening, ask one of three questions: Is there an invitation in this for me? Where do I sense God in this? Do I feel alive, grounded, and connected right now? Then do the thing recovery already taught you — take it out from under the bench and say it out loud to one safe person who doesn’t have a stake in your answer.

Conscious contact isn’t a bigger feeling. It’s a door. Getting sober was the beginning of a meaningful life — it was never supposed to be the whole thing.

Eric Miller is a trained spiritual director and ICF-credentialed coach who works with men who are unchurched, de-churched, or in recovery. New Mindset Pathways: newmindsetpathways.com

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