Cut off while trying to "share"

I am very glad our VUU group seems very open and welcoming and willing to listen to whatever any group member wants to say. This contrasts completely with the Debtors Anonymous meeting I went to last night.

It was my second meeting. The first one had been all right. But last night, while I was doing my "sharing," I started talking about how I'm on a spiritual quest, to try to achieve the kind of personal satisfaction that no material goods can supply. We had just read a passage on that fact, that material goods can't lead to personal fulfillment, so I thought it was very relevant. Plus I was eager to discuss my spiritual journey. However, midway through, I was rudely cut off by one of the DA facilitators for talking about a "non-DA issue." Well, how is it a "non-DA issue" to talk about how materialism isn't everything? That's one of their main messages. Their messages (their creeds, etc.) are also full of talk about God and spirituality. So I was just stunned, and I angrily got up and left. I recalled that at my first meeting, some guy had used his "sharing" time to complain about problems with his wife, and nobody interrupted HIM to tell him he was talking about a "non-DA" issue, even though he clearly was. That made me even angrier, that I got picked on when he did not. Probably because he has more "seniority" in the group than I did.

I may try another DA meeting at another location in my area. Or try the telephone meetings I have heard DA offers. But I'm definitely not going back to the one I went to last night!

I don't know if I really need DA, anyway. I pretty much know what to do and not do. You're supposed to save money when you can, and you're not supposed to use credit cards. I was pretty much just looking for fellowship with other compulsive shoppers (that's my problem... clothes and shoes), at my mom's suggestion. But if you're not free to "share" properly, then it's a negative experience I don't need.

So.... I hope the VUU group will continue to be open and welcoming, and not cut people off when they're sharing from the heart. I want it to be a place where I feel comfortable to be fully myself. I felt this way at the first meeting, and hope it continues.