Using The Tool Of Drawing
I met Dave at a downtown Denver SA meeting. He introduced me to Maxey. He volunteered at a shelter, and brought out three rescue dogs and it wasn’t even close. Maxey was the dog for me.
Which Way Do You Take?
Hi everyone, I’m Flo, a recovering sexaholic, sober since Oct 7, 2015. Sobriety is my priority in life. I want to live a sober life, no matter the kind of garbage I have to face on a given day. No matter what the emotional or physical pain, I keep moving ahead in my sobriety and recovery. Why? Because sobriety is the only thing I really have in life, and everything in my life depends on this.
Dear ESSAY
To the Essay: After six years of continuous struggle in Sexaholics Anonymous, my Higher Power granted me the gift of sobriety. My sobriety date is the 5 September 1993.
Dear ESSAY
Dear Essay, I have read “Sleep Issues” shared by Scott from Utah (December 2016 Essay.) My experience is different. In recovery my sleep life has also has sexual dreams, although the frequency now has diminished to only about two or three per year.
The God–Me Illustration
One night, at our home group meeting we discussed the SA group’s Primary Purpose—to carry its message to the sexaholic who still suffers (Tradition 5). Someone commented how helpful it would be to have a visual explanation of the Steps to share with newcomers. Below is what we created, and it has helped many newcomers ever since.
Learning to Face My Defects
As part of my recovery over the past five years, I’ve made cartoons based on recovery concepts. Translating my recovery into visual terms helps keep me focused on the solution. The cartoon below came to me in May of 2009, while at the house of an old-timer in the UK where I was staying to work the Steps.
Being There for Others
During my years in SA, I’ve been both a sponsor and a sponsee. My drawing below is about both of those experiences.
The Flimsy Reed
The AA Big Book contains a number of gripping phrases or metaphors. In describing the panic felt by anyone who has hit rock bottom, Bill W. wrote: “We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God” (AA 28).
The Jaywalker
If a vote were taken, I think that the most beloved character in the Big Book might be the Jaywalker. That hunch is based on the grins, laughter, and head-nodding I see in my meetings whenever that character is mentioned.
Step Two: Restore
I like to look up definitions of key words used in the Twelve Steps. I use a 1934 Webster’s Dictionary that was current when the Big Book was written. Key words and their definitions have become the subject of my artwork.
