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How to Celebrate When the World is On Fire
Twenty years ago tonight in a generic hotel banquet room, a massage instructor handed me a piece of paper. Just like that, I was a massage therapist.
I’d worked hard as an intern, so the very next day after graduation I had paying clients on my calendar, happy to come get a massage by a rookie in a tiny room tucked in the back corner of a chiropractor’s office.
Turns out this is a pretty good career.
But it’s been hard to get excited about celebrating this milestone. The last time I made a big stink was my 15th anniversary in March 2020 and well… you know. (I only just ran out of the custom pens and lip balms I ordered.)
My practice looks very different now. I average 40 appointments a month instead of 70. My office is a quiet space I share with one colleague, not a busy multi-practitioner clinic.
But outside my office with its soft lighting and chill music, the world is on fire. Enthusiasm for an anniversary seems a bit forced and misplaced.
This year my celebration looks more like a reflection. After 20 years in this work here is what I know for sure:
- If we look hard enough, we can always find something to like about any other person. Go ahead, refer your Incredibly Difficult™ Uncle Ned to me. I’ll find common ground and he’ll get a great massage experience (and I’ll enjoy working with him).
- Consistency and reliability are more powerful small business tools than pretty brochures, or fancy sheets, or special oils.
- Massage isn’t just about muscles and skin. Good massage will ease pain and improve sleep. Great massage calms the nervous system, creates a space between breaths, and changes how we interact with the world around us.
These certainties will guide the remaining years of my career.
Connect with people. Be consistent in my work. Help others find calm so they can bring their best selves to the world.
I still see a few clients from those early tiny-chiro-office days. For each of them and every client since, I am deeply grateful.