Touch and the End of the World as We Know It

Stress comes in all forms, and I feel it on my massage table. Most likely it is a personal issue, a problem, a challenge in life or relationships. But a lot of people get their biggest stress from work, most specifically the feeling of being out of control, powerless, voiceless.

It is a tall order to unwind all that. I try. Massage therapy is not going to change the world, of course, just our reaction to it.


One of my regular fellows has been stressing for months about the national election. He has told me straight out on a number of times that if his candidate did not win, or more importantly if the other guy didn’t lose, that he would be out of business overnight.

Long hard years of work and dedication down the drain. Mentored employees adrift. An entire sophisticated market kaputz, with the eventuality the ruin of the quality medical care in the United States. Instead of working on the important stuff, he might just be trying to come up with the next Sham-Wow, while sitting in an old rv somewhere trying to stay one park ahead of his creditors.

Ok. That is pretty dreadful.

Well, the national election didn’t go too well for his guys. On top of that, Californians, apparently insane from overdoses of Twinkies and silicone, actually voted to raise their own taxes.

And you just don’t talk politics with clients. I can mumble a sympathetic “that’s terrible” here and there, but otherwise it is a game out of bounds for massage therapy.

I was thinking, though, that it has been my experience that if someone tries to frighten your vote, they are on thin ground. I don’t vote that way and never have. Well, that’s an opinion I kept to myself.

I felt somehow that the blow could be softened. I suggested that it would be best to let the political process play out. If the industry was on a precipice and ready to be demolished by new taxes and regulations, surely the major economic interests involved would make themselves heard. Those in government, ever mindful of the power of money, jobs and investments, will certainly listen. Give it time, I said.

          “I s’pose,” he said.

Solace? Perhaps I can offer just a little candlelight at the end of a long hard-fought campaign….