In my faith tradition, we have the story of a wise man who was once asked, “What has God been doing since He created the world?” The wise man answered, “He is busy bringing people together.”

Dear Essay,
When I read the Oct issue about our old-timers, I thought of our founder Roy K.

Dear Essay readers,
Could Roy K. have imagined how Essay would look like when he wrote a letter to the fellowship in 1981? Gradually his letters turned into a newsletter containing sobriety insights and comments, as well as sharing from other SAs, and information on new groups, conventions, etc. Our 1990 book Recovery Continues contains twenty-four of Roy’s reflections from the early Essays.

Dear Essay, I am an incarcerated member due to my lust/pornography addiction, sober by the grace of God and SA since Dec 11, 2019. I have been very blessed to remain in contact with my SA sponsor allowing me to complete the Steps and start working on the Traditions. Many sexaholics in prison are not as blessed as I am.

The Essay has given this EMER Delegate the opportunity to read about others’ joys and victories, trials, and challenges—and also to throw in some of his own.

There are no unique sexaholics, but there are members and sexaholics who experience barriers to accessing the SA message. Our Third Tradition states, “The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop lusting and become sexually sober.”

In Belgium, some fellows were attending meetings from another S fellowship since 1997, but after more than 10 years no one was able to stay sober for longer periods of time, even while trying to stay sober according to their own sobriety definitions. In July 2008, one very desperate member decided to go to an international convention in the States and the first one he found on the internet happened to be an SA IC.

The very first SA meeting in Egypt was held over Zoom in 2014 by a few members. Later on, in 2015, the first face-to-face meeting was held in Cairo. Today, there are seven weekly face-to-face meetings all over Egypt and six weekly online meetings including two women-only meetings.

Serving on Trustee Committees of SA is one of the most rewarding ventures I have experienced in recovery. Why? It promotes humility in me, as relatively few know of what the Committees do (low attention to self). No awards or pins for years of service (little room for self-exaltation). But there ARE rewards for service on the Trustee Committees.

Thousands of sexaholics all over the world tuned in to find out how numerous speakers and panelists do just that. One speaker compared it to showing up to the emergency room: everyone is there for help, regardless of culture, age, gender, religion, education, or any other distinction.

The Nov 14 Newcastle Convention was one of the most powerful experiences we have ever had. It was face to face as well as online. Hal and Scott related how they took many people through the steps the old way, the way Bill and Bob did it.

The words of Step Two roll off my lips. “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” They are so easy to repeat. I think, “Of course I believe in a Higher Power, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” I ask myself, “Really?”

When Eddie Rickenbacker’s plane ran out of gas over the Pacific during World War II, he and his crew were in a perilous situation. Adrift on the ocean with three rafts and four oranges, they had to pull together or die.

I’m Barbara, a grateful sexaholic, sober since December 12, 2001 and Essay editor newsletter since March 2007. I’m grateful to the fellowship for allowing me to be of service all these years; this has been one of the biggest blessings of my recovery.

It was my privilege to serve as Essay editor during the years 1999-2000. My service term was short, but memorable. I could not always keep pace with the Essay production schedule. I will always admire those before and after me who have produced regular Essay issues full of inspiring material. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Theirs is not an easy task.

Lust addiction and sexual acting-out brought me into SA, but it was the spirituality of the SA literature and deeper spiritual fellowship I found in SA meetings that kept me coming back and called me to perform service in SA. With a background in writing and editing, I served on the SA Literature Committee that edited the White Book and Recovery Continues as well as other SA literature.

When I arrived at Sexaholics Anonymous in August, 1988, the periodic mailings from the Simi Valley Central Office in California were carefully read. While I have a fairly complete set of Essays from 1991 on, I only have a few samples of the earlier issues.

An SA friend had what seemed like an old copy of a book in his pocket. It was all rolled up. It turned out to be the Essay magazine. He asked if I wanted to read it and I said yes. There is a certain nostalgia to getting that paper all rolled up having been used by many people in recovery before me. Me being just the next lucky drunk to get to hold it for a bit.

My first encounter with Essay was in 2016, when I was a couple of months sober from lust. My first sponsor sent me the magazine, along with a step-by-step assignment and other SA literature. Admittedly, the magazine looked unusual—it was a Word file with several translated articles.

How do I encapsulate what the Essay magazine means to me and my recovery? I look forward to each issue like a kid heading to a candy store. I can’t wait to read each and every article, and typically enjoy a good laugh at the cartoons which invariably include nuggets of wisdom that broaden my recovery toolbox.