Magazine

JUNE 2025

“Grieving In Recovery” — Feeling our feelings of resentment, fear, and shame can be overwhelming when first getting sober. Roy K. describes this difficulty in the book Sexaholics Anonymous. However, being overwhelmed by strong feelings can return when experiencing loss in recovery. Grief, even after years of sobriety, can be difficult to bear alone. Higher Power, working the Steps, participating in the Fellowship, and outside help can help members who are experiencing grief for the first time in recovery.

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In Every Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Enjoy reading all the articles of the current magazine below.

He Captured Our Hearts On Video
Cesar’s videos can be viewed on the ESSAY website on the Videos Page on https://essay.sa.org/videos/.

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His Focus on Fellowship
A few years after the Flemish IG began, Luc brought up the idea of organizing a larger workshop or convention. We also looked to SA in the Netherlands for collaboration. This happened several times during workshops with old-timers. A few years ago, a tradition emerged: an annual Dutch-language convention, alternately organized by the Dutch and the Flemish IG.

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The Principles For The Heartbroken
When I came to SA at the beginning of January 2021, started working the Steps, and got to know my Higher Power, I thought life would no longer be difficult. As long as we are sober and with God, it can only be good, right?

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Lifetime of Tears
I have a lifetime of tears that are trapped like an ocean, deep within the inside of me, The pain and the fears, and a lingering notion that one day they'll all be set free. But for now, as new tears are gathered and added deep behind an impenetrable wall, The pressure increases as the stability decreases, awaiting the eventual fall.

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SA is My Family, as Most People I Loved Are Dead
As this headline suggests, I have lived through the deaths of my large childhood extended family, where I lived and thrived. Then, in midlife, my beloved husband died tragically. My circle shrank to my parents and grandmother, but in 2020, my cherished father and grandmother both died in lockdown, with all the severe trauma that involved at the time. Even my former acting-out partner will be dead by now.

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Bringing Us Together
"Have you worked the Steps on this issue?" Sylvia asked me that question regularly when she was my sponsor. The question stays in my head, and it comes to the surface when my Higher Power knows I need help. Seven women received many wise suggestions from Sylvia as our sponsor or as our friend. We united in our grief to have an online memorial, a memorial on Zoom, and a memorial published in the June ESSAY magazine. Sylvia passed away in October 2024. One of the women interviewed me and Sylvia's former sponsees and friends to paint a picture of her gifts of experience, strength, and hope.

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Remembering the Isms
Sharing the wisdom of David M. to help us let go, grow, and remember. Maynardism: The opposite of love is indifference. When one is angry or critical of another, that is not indifference. That is an expression of caring. Learning to accept caring in the form of judgment is important, though rarely pleasant.

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The Best Caption Contest
For this June 2025 edition we welcome our newest amateur illustrator An. She has created this issue's Best Caption Contest Cartoon with August's theme: "Happy, Joyous, and ... Single."

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NWR Spring Retreat 2025 Retrospective
It never seems to get old, even though I’ve been driving to these regional conferences now for over a quarter century. I’m just appreciating these special times all the more since they were interrupted for a couple of years by the pandemic.

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The 2025 Truro, UK Recovery Day
My name is Kathie S., of the Exeter, Devon, England, SA group. The next county to Devon is Cornwall, including one of the smallest SA groups in the country: the Truro group. This dedicated group has hosted again this year one of the most awesome events on my calendar: the Truro Recovery Day (which was in early April 2025). Truro is a Cathedral city, accessible by railway and by main roads.

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