Deaf, Sober, and Happy
My name is Pat and I’m a sexaholic. Last December I celebrated 17 years as a member of the SA Fellowship and 17 years of SA sobriety. I feel so blessed.
Finance Report
A detailed donations report is enclosed with mailed issues of Essay. The report is also available from SAICO. To request your copy, please call SAICO at 866-424-8777 or write to saico@sa.org. In 2008, an appeal was sent out to the fellowship to help offset a shortfall in contributions to SAICO. Called the “Quarterly Appeal,” this was a request for contributions from members, meetings, Intergroups, and regions.
SA CFC
Last July, I began serving as the CFC chair for the Los Angeles Intergroup. The mission of SA’s CFC is to carry our message to incarcerated sexaholics, and one way to do this is to participate in CFC’s Sponsor-by-Mail program. So early in my service, I introduced a Prisoner Correspondence Format in one of our groups (see format below).
July 2014 International Convention
The city of Detroit has a rich and varied heritage. It was the birthplace of the American auto industry and brought on the age of assembly line manufacturing, which led to unprecedented growth of the US economy. Detroit became known as the Motor City.
Taichung Holds First Annual Retreat
On February 15, 2014 the English-speaking Taichung group held its first SA retreat, entitled “It Works If You Work It.” Five of us active members were present. This was a great milestone for us, to have our first gathering outside of regular meetings since our group began in January 2010.
Recovery Camp in Israel
May 2014 was an unforgettable month in the history of SA Israel and SA’s EMER Region. In only 10 years, SA Israel has grown from a few loners to more than 300 active members; more than 50 meetings in English, French, and Hebrew (with five new meetings opened this month alone); a fully paid-up and redecorated “SA Meeting House;” the hosting of EMER’s 2014 Regional Assembly and SA/S-Anon Convention with nearly 300 participants in attendance from all over Europe and even a handful of members from the US and Canada—and all of this followed by a remarkable International Recovery Camp on the shore of Lake Galilee!
Persian White Book at Last
In the early years of establishing SA in Iran we did not know how to stop our problem and recover from sexaholism. Members of other Twelve Step programs who had long-term sobriety joined SA and gave us recommendations from their own fellowships to help us to recover from our sexual behavior.
SA in Iran—Then and Now
In the Spring of 2001, a fellow was struggling with staying sober from lust. He had tried many ways to stop, including using spiritual tools—but he could not stop. Then in the Fall of 2002 he met another man who also wanted to stop.
Encouraged to Continue
Recently, while attending an SA meeting, I was having a dialogue inside my head as someone read aloud “The Solution” (SA 61).
An Alternative to Applause?
Even as a child I had a sensitivity to noise. I came from a large family, and our house was always noisy and chaotic, with everybody talking at once. There also was a lot of yelling. I used to escape to the woods near our house for some peace and quiet. I liked to listen to the quiet rustling of the trees and hear the soft singing of the birds.
