It was a very, very emotional experience. I was upset because I had been promised anonymous confession, and the way the booth is set up, when I am walking in the Father could see who I was. Once you enter, there is a small curtain with a kneeler. Anyway, the coordinator asked the Father to close his eyes so I could enter without him seeing me, so he did. I felt a little silly but it was the best I could get I guess.
It was very hard. I immediately broke down into tears and just cried from shame. I wasn't ashamed at having to confess "in front" of someone, I was ashamed of the things I'd done, especially since 99% of the time, I knew it was wrong and did it anyway.
The priest spoke to me very comfortingly, told me it was okay, that God could feel my sincerity, and not to think that I was confessing to him, but that I was confessing to Jesus and that he was just there as an intermediary,and had me take a few deep breaths. So I did and calmed down a trifle, and started confessing. My sponsor had me write down everything I wanted to say, because she said I would get flustered and forget, and she was right. Some were harder to confess than others, causing fresh tears.
After I was done, the priest talked to me some more, and counseled me on how to do better, and assured me of God's forgiveness, that all was swept away and I was starting with a clean slate. Then I said the Act of Contrition, and he gave me 1 Our Father and 2 Hail Mary's. I thanked him and left, and went to the bathroom and cried for about ten minutes. Once I was done, I went into the chapel and knelt down to say my penance, and also to profess my sincere regrets, and thankfulness for the experience.
So all in all, while it was very emotional and painful in some ways, it was also very freeing and it gave me so much grace.
Thanks everyone for your kind words of encouragement last week when I was freaking out about this.