Saturday Apr 12, 2025
ESSAY April 2025 - Ce n'était pas une rechute - Oscar M., Bogota, Colombie
ESSAY Magazine (An International Journal of Sexaholics Anonymous)
The mission of ESSAY is to serve as a source of information, experience, strength and hope to sexaholics, both inside and outside the rooms of Sexaholics Anonymous. Our vision is to provide a high-quality “meeting in print” that gathers together members from around the world. It can serve as a portable “extra meeting” especially for loners and for members who don’t have access to many meetings. In addition, Essay serves as an outreach tool to carry the message to those who have not yet found SA. We strive to include a mix of stories and shares from a wide variety of members, including men and women, prisoners, and international members. In addition, ESSAY provides Fellowship announcements and information on subjects such as new meetings, Fellowship events, and our service structure. We hope that all of the articles we publish will offer useful information and provide experience, strength, and hope to all who suffer from the disease of sexaholism. Fellowship actvities such as international conventions, regional events and local events appear in the Calendar section. Each issue has a theme and various sections to share sexaholic stories and practical tools. In addition to letters and group news, ESSAY offers short, edited articles written by members about recovery and our solution. The Practical Recovery Tools section features members sharing on the topic, “Exactly how I did it.” Submissions may also include meditations, poetry, and humor. ESSAY is guided by the principles of the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. Each issue contains the following statement:
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Saturday Apr 12, 2025
Saturday Apr 12, 2025
L'abandon à Dieu m'a conduit au miracle de la vraie sobriété.Bonjour, je m'appelle Amr R. et je viens d'Égypte. À l'âge de 10 ans, j'ai commencé à me toucher, mais j'ai arrêté parce que ma mère m'a dit que j'irais en enfer si je faisais cela. J'ai découvert la pornographie à l'âge de 18 ans et je suis rapidement devenu dépendant, incapable d'arrêter de me masturber ne serait-ce qu'une semaine. J'ai rejoint les SA à l'âge de 19 ans, il y a seulement un an. Ma première réunion s'est déroulée sur Zoom. J'ai rejoint les SA parce que je me masturbais compulsivement en regardant de la pornographie. Lorsque je suis arrivé aux SA, j'ai pu arrêter de passer à l'acte pendant 14 jours grâce aux gens ici - ils m'encourageaient, m'affirmaient et m'aimaient !
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
A Step Toward Healing at the Bogotá ConferenceOn December 14–15, 2024, Bogotá, Colombia hosted SA members under the inspiring slogan: “Recovering Together, Men and Women in SA.” The event brought together 39 participants—31 men and 8 women—united in their journey of recovery.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
A Fun Take on the Business of Local MeetingsIf you’ve attended any business meetings at your local home group, you know they can be pretty dull and uninteresting as a few restless addicts monotonously dot all the I’s, cross all the T’s, and measure out the red tape. Sometimes, this can be downright annoying and frustrating as members debate unimportant nuances of every motion or haggle over whether a surplus of $9 should be spent on tea or cookies.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
How lightheartedness and a little perspective can turn self-pity into self-awareness.A few days ago, one of my friends came up to me with good news. “I have a boyfriend!” she said. I was so happy for her. Then it struck me—I was (and still am) the only single girl among my various groups of friends.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Hi, I’m Eugene K., a sexaholic. I’m 22 years old and came to SA in September 2024. When I saw the theme about Rule 62 (don’t take yourself too seriously), it reminded me of how I found my SA sponsor. Back when I was new, I had my eye on this one guy I thought would be a great sponsor. He’d been in the newcomers’ breakout meeting, and I thought, “This is the guy.” A few meetings later, I finally decided I should probably get a sponsor, so I started looking for him after the meeting.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Seeing My Part Without Taking Blame
Step Four was eye-opening for me. It was also hard to look at, written on paper, what I had done and who I was. I just didn’t want to be that person anymore.
I hadn’t really considered or wanted to look at myself like this. I had spent so much time focusing on what everyone else had done wrong to me. That’s all I had been able to see for a very long time.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Overcoming Addiction and Betrayal to Rebuild Love, Trust, and Purpose.
When I attended my first SA meeting in May 2021, I was totally immersed in lust and had already lost almost everything.
The problem began when my father abandoned us. My mother had to go out to work, leaving me alone with my little brother. Then, my mother married an alcoholic and violent man, twice her age, but with a good job. My childhood was hell. I suffered humiliation, violence, hunger, abandonment, economic deprivation, and sexual abuse by my stepfather. I dreamed that a charming prince would come to rescue me one day. While I isolated myself from the world, I discovered masturbation to escape my reality.
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
Higher Power’s guidance in both struggle and service.Step into Action (p. 67) tells us that “There are many good ways to do a Fourth Step inventory.” It recommends listing and describing our resentments, fears, and the selfish nature of our sexual behavior, but it also mentions identifying our positive attributes and recognizing what “God would have us be.” This can also be found in our personal history of other, more positive, behaviors—especially in actions that stand in direct contrast to our defects, like opposite ends of a pendulum’s swing.