How I Use the ESSAY

Dear ESSAY,

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the ESSAY team for continuing its vital work after Luc’s passing. Your dedication keeps alive an invaluable resource for our Fellowship worldwide.

Although I’d occasionally read ESSAY articles since joining SA in 2008, it wasn’t until late 2018 that I truly began appreciating its depth. The articles, especially those on same-sex lust and the tools of recovery, resonate deeply with me and have become indispensable to my journey.

I’ve developed a practice of engaging with the ESSAY in three ways:

1. On first reading – I skim over it to see what catches my attention.
2. With second reading – I study it slowly and mark passages that resonate.
3. In third reading – I use the entire issue in meditation, one section at a time.

This method helps me connect more profoundly with the content and apply it in my recovery. I have a forgetting disease and wish I could retain everything I ever read in the ESSAY (but maybe that would create a whole separate problem with humility).

I’ve reached out to the ESSAY several times to connect with authors whose stories have deeply moved me. These connections have enriched my recovery, just as the magazine itself has become a cornerstone of my daily meditation and quiet time.

I’m especially mindful of the ESSAY’s importance to those in our fellowship who are isolated, including incarcerated members. For them, it serves as a “meeting-in-print” (just like it says in the SA Service Manual) offering hope, encouragement, and a lifeline to the greater Fellowship. I also appreciate the touches of humor that remind us not to take ourselves too seriously.

To the team behind the scenes, thank you for creating a resource that connects us across the globe. The ESSAY has been a powerful tool in my recovery, and I hope more members will explore and utilize it as I have.

With gratitude and fellowship,