Desert Magnolia

Friends of mine who graduated before me and have therefore been in the practice trenches for awhile have often shared stories of how differently they are practicing than they thought they would practice. Everyone had preconceptions in school, developed business plans around those ideas, then entered the real world as practitioners and often changed, dramatically, their intended directions. Funny, but now that I am a seasoned 3 month practitioner (ha), I am realizing that what we thought we knew in school is nothing like real life, and that flexibility is key to growth and survival, moving forward. I thought, for example, that I would launch a mobile practice focusing on retirees, but as I've connected with a clinic and am feeling more at home there, I am not sure I want to be on the move all the time. Also, as I've begun to develop my greater mission of focusing on bridging Oriental Medicine and Western medicine, I am close (I think) to establishing a working relationship ...

This would be a bitch day. This would be a day without good sleep due to worrying about the future, and just who all is going to be let down by me as I pursue my education. So far the tally is astonishing, and really, just really, I wish I could view this differently. I wish I could view this amazing new path I'm on as an opportunity of a lifetime, for me, and NOT as the current largest stressor in my life. The path isn't the stressor. The stressor is knowing that though the decision to pursue Oriental Medicine was one we discussed before I jumped, the real jumping? Didn't happen at the beginning. The real jumping happens when I start to work less and do school more and really focus my efforts so I can get out of the program before the school crumbles the mandated deadline. It's already getting dicey, and I'm not sure I can withstand the blowback when real change happens. Seriously.

As you all know, I am pursuing Oriental Medicine. It's quite a journey, and one that I've decided to chronicle on a dedicated blog. Those of you who read Desert Magnolia, please keep on doing so. If you're interested in learning more about the whole becoming a practitioner of Oriental Medicine, the ups, the downs, the intricacies, etc., please visit Lotus Elementals.blogspot.com. My first post: Future Dawning Thanks so much! Stevie

"There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves. Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you ." - Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free (This quote appeared in an article on Mind, Body, Green, a site I visit frequently. I am smack within their demographic, so I constantly find stuff that resonates. This quote is one more example of that...) Those of you who have followed my blog for any period of time have witnessed a personal evolution, of sorts, as I've shared the empty nest process as it's unfolded for me. You've seen the low points, the high points, the breakthroughs and the gradually emerging post-flight woman I'm becoming. Amid myriad realizations, a common thread of self-awareness has grown, and with it has come a better understanding of who I am now. Ironically, with that, has come a clearer understanding of who I have been, and some ideas about why that younger me made some of the choices she made, ...