Jobs and Timing

I really like my job at the bookstore. I had decided some time ago that I'd like to plan my massage schedule around my bookstore job. I want my bookstore job to be the paycheck I count on while I build up my massage practice part-time.

That's what I thought.

On Wednesday morning, I sent my resume to IMI's placement director. On Wednesday afternoon, I learned that my hours at the bookstore had been cut by 33%. (They cut everyone's hours.)

I don't know if this comes across as amazing here as it did to me when I saw my reduced-hours schedule at the bookstore. Think about it: Randy, my hands-on teacher, utilizes a lovely ritual to usher his students out of school and toward the working world of massage. Then I begin sending out my massage resume, wondering how I'm going to fit a massage job into my schedule. Then, that same day, the bookstore cuts my hours.

You know how folks sometimes say, "What are you waiting for, a neon sign from heaven?" Well, when I looked at the new schedule posted on the bulletin board at work, it morphed into this, right before my very eyes:

FINITO!

Yes, my classes ended last week, but I had a couple of loose ends to tie up. Today, I went to IMI and tied up my last loose end! Woo hoo!

I went upstairs to peek in at my old classroom. (Old? Ha. I was just there last week.) There was our room, full of new faces, new students on their first day of Hands-On class. There was Deb who spotted me and laughed as she headed over for hugs, accusing me of not being able to stay away. Who, me?

And there was Randy at the head of the room, frantically preparing to begin class. Mind you, "frantic" for Randy means turning from Point A to Point B with papers in his hand that he then sets down at Point C. When he's really frantic, he holds his fingers up as if checking the direction of the non-wind, smiles, and says, It's okay. And, sure enough, everything is okay.

I am so lucky to have had IMI's best for hands-on instruction! Thank you, Randy and Deb. And thanks to Annette and Cindy, our esteemed apprentices. I couldn't have asked for a better team.

IMI: Closing Ceremony

On 8 May 2008, we held our final class. We partnered up for one last massage (blindfolded; think Luke Skywalker), shared a potluck meal, and then we gathered in the Harmony Room for our Closing Ceremony. I'll describe only part of the ceremony:

Picture us -- some fifteen students, two apprentices, two instructors -- sitting on the floor in a circle, lights dimmed, a tealight candle burning in front of each of us. Randy holds up a string, maybe two feet long, with the two ends knotted together so that the string forms a circle or loop. He says that this string represents all of us over the past year; the knot is Randy, our teacher. He picks up a pair of scissors and says...

I don't remember what he said next. I remember only the image of the string, the knot, and the scissors, my sudden and tiny gasp when he picked up the scissors, and my watery eyes as he cut the knot from the string, and I remember feeling sad and not sad.

Randy passed the string and the scissors to his left and asked us each to tie a knot at the end of the string and then cut it off. I snipped my little knotted "me" from the string and thought, this is so cool.

Rituals can be nifty things. I never would have guessed that such a simple event could have such a springboard effect on me. Whoosh! and Randy ushered our hinies out o' the nest, and again, Whoosh! ...the beating of wings.

Massage School in a Nutshell

If it's tight, loosen it. If it's loose, tighten it. If it's inflamed, don't squeeze it, and if it's oozing, don't touch it. ;)

Therapeutic Exam: Wee!

I took my final final exam at IMI last Thursday. I got an A, hurray! The kicker? I barely studied at all. Go figure. Granted, this exam was, in my opinion, easier than the Basic Exam in that it covered aspects of massage that we'd been practicing (hopefully) throughout the year. Less memorization, more common sense.

So, what's left?

- Last class, May 8: Blindfold Massage & Closing Ceremony
- Practical Exam (massage an instructor), May 9
- Clinical event hour (massage an apprentice), May 15
- Turn in my Program Summary (one page summary of my experience & growth while at IMI; one page, are they kidding? ::smiles::)
- Send my resume to our placement director

Graduation is on June 1.