Feedback Corner
Regarding the article in the December 1994 Essay on raising/creating the Essay consciousness and ideas for offsetting the cost of Essay, in our group conscience, here are thoughts and ideas which came up:
Editors’ Corner
You should have received a new and very important “working paper” from the SA Literature Committee titled “Practical Guidelines for Group Recovery” with the last issue of the Essay newsletter. This material has already proven very helpful in improving meeting quality, sponsorship, and in reversing the tide of slipping most groups experience.
Are the Twelve Steps Meaningful Only to Individuals, or Do These Principles Also Apply to Our Fellowship?
Question: “How can SA as a fellowship work the Steps; I thought only individuals could do that?” Response: “The idea does sound kind of new and strange, doesn’t it? But let’s see what it might look like.”
A Call to Inventory—Group and Fellowship-wide
Our situation as a people coming out of sexual slavery is not unlike the story of the people coming out of bondage from Egypt. Years of enslavement brought them to utter despair, crying out to God for help. Through an amazing series of events. they were led out—often kicking and screaming in unbelief—only to find themselves wandering in the wilderness. Free at last, on the outside, they soon discovered the harsh reality that theirs was a spiritual malady inside. The severity of withdrawal brought back the craving for the old way of life.
What We Used to Be Like … 14 Years Ago in Essay
Excerpts from two inquirers’ responses, July 1981: “Thank you and God bless you in your work. You’ll never know how many lives you have helped.”
Sober on the ‘Inside’
This is my story. It is not very pretty and I made some real bad choices in my life. Understand that I do not blame all the things in my early life for the things I did later. I used to use the fact that my own father turned me out when I was 12 as a reason for what I did. This was only a way for me not to accept the responsibility for my own actions.
Glimpses of Sanity
It does not surprise me to find that the majority of us are too busy working on ourselves to be of much use to others. That’s been my story for years now! Recovery intensifies feelings which consume my time and thoughts and it takes years to reorganize life out of the insanity of my past.
Feeling “Normal”
As an active sexaholic, I always wanted to get back to feeling what I referred to as “normal.” I would look at other people and think: “Hey, they’re normal, why can’t I be like them?” Then I’d automatically go after my drug, and soon enough, I’d feel what I fancied was “normal” again. And this worked pretty well for a number of years, except that to continue feeling what I called “normal,” I needed a constant supply, and lost my life in the process.
Group News
Our Wednesday London SA group is going strong. We are now averaging between 8-12 people a meeting and we are gaining good, honest sobriety. Thanking you.
Report on the January Conference
On the first day of the conference I shared at a taped meeting about New York’s progress and got a warm confirmation from many members on how healing it is for them to hear that SA here is active and grateful. I told them we had adopted the standard meeting format and the kind of results that this had produced, and many people came up to me afterwards asking how we did it.
