Memories of the “Real Connection” International Retreat in Salt Lake City will still be fresh for many members as this issue of the Essay appears. For many of us, this retreat felt like recovery often feels: emotional, sometimes tense and uncomfortable, yet open and secure. As we walked together through sharing our struggles and victories, we began to experience the joy of true union with one another. One member commented afterwards: “There were a lot of tears at this conference, more than I remember seeing before. It’s as if there was enough trust and openness for people to begin to let their true feelings out.”

The open meeting on Sunday morning, in which anyone could share with the whole conference, was an unforgettable experience. For over two and a half hours, people shared their gratitude for what the conference had meant for them, and for what the fellowship of Sexaholics Anonymous means to them. The meeting was a reaffirmation of unity at the deepest level — unity in a shared understanding of sobriety, unity in a hunger for a deeper recovery, unity in our commitment to carry the message to the sexaholic who still suffers. Our Higher Power was in that room, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.