Did anyone say massage?

I kind of want to study massage therapy. However, I am impulsive it is sort of a fact that I know about myself. Sometimes I like something so much that I actually want to pursue it with an obsessive vigor (on this blog you will find examples). Only to later realize that I probably have an issue to dedicating myself to that thing. But I have been thinking about this endeavour for quite some time now and I do crave having a good skill which I could take with me anywhere I go in the world.

Oh I just had a memory - a childhood memory. I used to have a massage stick when I was little. It was this funky long stick with rolling pieces in it, like flat disks. It was very long almost as tall as I was in those days. I used to take the stick, place my hands on the handles and roll it up and down on my back. That was a nice memory actually. Ha, now I hav another memory on the same topic.  The following massage memory I have is from my yearly hospitalizations at the children's hospital which I had in Russia. I used to be placed under hospital care each spring to monitor and treat my stomach conditions. There were a bunch of perks that came along with being in a hospital for an extended period of time, it even seemed like a “mid-year camp” to me often times. In particular I loved that I was: out of school for a couple of weeks, made tons of new friends, did all sorts of random things usually with kids much older my age (I was sort of a rebel in making friends and wanting to hang out with an older crowd), lived independently with often family visitations (which made me feel super cool!), got to be spoiled a little bit and missed a lot (which meant that if I cut a bang & did other outrageous stuff I was often forgiven). But the best thing of all was that I got a daily massage!!!! It was quite a treat now that I think about it. I guess back in the days the Russian health care system sought massage therapy as a very beneficial daily procedure for children with my condition. Thank goodness for that! I wonder if it is still a common practice, because it was absolutely heavenly. No frills, good, relaxing, and healing massage.

In the mornings we would come along with our towels and creams and line up in front of the masseuse’s office. We would establish our turns and then go about our business knowing that when we come back it would be our turn. I got a stomach and a back massage during those sessions. It was simple, very enjoyable, and now I do recognize that it was quite a treat for us kids to receive. I think because the way “massage therapy” was first presented to me at an early age and in such a casual manner it made me look at it as a “casual” thing and not that of a luxury or something that was an indication of opulence. What I’m trying to say is that to me it seemed normal for a long time that such treatment was easily accessible and encouraged for children and not only for adults during spa visits. In fact since I was first introduced to massage at a hospital I thought of it as a medicinal activity rather than a spa-related treatment. Futhermore, giving massages seemed like an ordinary activity to me too. That’s when I began giving massages to my family members often times mimiking what I experienced during my own masage treatment sessions. Mainly I would give massages to my parents because both of them were always working very hard (still do actually) and hey I had a mini skill or a talent of sorts which I was often told about and since it seemed to be helpful I happily complied in becoming a "house massues". In later years I used my “mini skill” also when I moved to America providing massage for my grandfather and grandmother; also most recently to my liefje. But see since after providing a massage session I would rather feel ill (I don’t know if it’s psychological) often feeling pain in the same area where the my client would say they were hurting; or in most recent years, I just became sleepy! Right liefje? I sort of began to feel reluctant and often apprehensive about providing my massage services.





Pelle, the Dutch cutie boy

  

So that is my story with massage therapy. Now I am sitting here reminiscing about how massage has been present in my own life and even maybe obtaining a training to solidify a “mini skill” of mine into a recognizable and legitimate ability. That actually would be something special if I am very honest with myself. All my life I have felt that no matter how much I would like to do something that requires a particular skill (painting, drawing, sewing, singing, dancing, playing an instrument, playing a sport) and training that I would not have enough natural ability to become good at something technical. But after all, everyone has their personal misconceptions and frankly with practice & interest I think things can be learned. If only I had the time and finances to do this. Maybe someday....?

I'm also thinking how I could be more open and rather voicefull on my blog; how to actually be me here. Soon I am going to write about a topic which is consistently developing in my mind, it has something to do with how I am noticing things around me and what I want out of life.