The last glowing ember of the Fourth of July fireworks had gone out and as we walked to the car, I ran into two old friends I had not seen since massage school – now a good 16 Fourth-of-July fireworks shows ago.We compared hairstyles, and weights and marriage and divorce milestones. Then the question inevitably came up: Still doing massage?
Yes, I said proudly. I love doing massage. It's a very fulfilling career.
Ooh. That went over like a dud. Turns out my buddies from school were busy doing everything but massage and looking to open a more lucrative business. A domestic employment agency, for one, she explained. You don’t have to do any work. You just place people and collect money.
This discussion got my interest. Although both these folks still do massage, it seemed like they had long had ambitions to do anything but massage. They had a bunch of different activities: Teaching. Massage products like essential oils. Stints as lifestyle coaches.
I suddenly got the feeling that I must have missed something, being a massage therapist who likes to do massage.
I have to ask: Do massage therapists harbor ambitions to "stop using their hands?" Is hands-on not good enough? Are we stepping on stones to another profession? Do we want to be business people and not therapists?
Plus, if anyone knows a business where you do no work and collect money, my cell phone number is…
I wonder what the post-fireworks chat will be like in say, 10 years.
4 comments:
GREAT topic! I have the same confusion. I adore what I do. I'm looking for ways to massage smarter, so that I can preserve my physical strentgh so that I CAN still be hands-on in 20 years. I'm not sure why some people choose this career. :)
When I graduated from school I was shocked at how many of my classmate didn't go on to practice massage. I went to night school and in my class of 13 only 4 of us went on to practice professionally. Everyone else kept their office jobs.
from Sue Peterson: Misha, you are so right! preserving one's hands is a priority....but I'm not sure this is what these folks had in mind -- it almost seemed like they wanted to brag that they don't "have to" do massage. Heather: I noted a big drop-off in my classmates, too. Lots of bragadaccio, little commitment. what gives?
Very interesting. Why did they go through all that work in school to try to do something else? I think there is a lot of worry about moving in the right direction career wise, when in reality one should find something they love and work hard to keep doing it!
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