The Retirement Bubble

It was the 70’s and, with the success of Toyota and others, all things Asian were of increasing interest to Americans, including me. How I came across a book on the Japanese health practice of shiatsu, I don’t remember now. Shiatsu, sometimes called “acupressure” in English, follows the system used in acupuncture, but uses pressure on the acupuncture points, instead of needles.

The book was well-written and really impressed me. Although the idea had never crossed my mind before the book, I decided I needed to know more, so I contacted the institute that the author ran in New York City and inquired about an introductory course. I got the information, packed a bag, left Washington DC where I lived, and spent a weekend being introduced to the practice of shiatsu. I liked the sensei (master teacher), my fellow classmates, and what I saw and experienced, so I took a week-long course a month or so later. After nearly three years of training, a week here, two weeks there and so forth due to my work schedule, my teacher told me I was sufficiently competent to offer my services to the public for money, if I chose to.

I was doing short-term consulting work overseas at the time, but I had periods when I was at home, waiting for a new assignment, and money was tight. Maybe I could find a way to practice that wouldn’t require my continuous presence. After all, I liked what I was doing and I had put a lot of time, money, and effort into learning, so providing it as a paid service would be a nice addition to my income, as well as a chance to get broader practical experience.

I asked around the “alternative lifestyle/health” community of that day (much smaller than it is today) and was introduced to a young lady who was setting up a center for various forms of legitimate massage therapy and was happy to have shiatsu added to her options. She charged me only for my use of the facilities, thus it was not a major expense, and I was earning income while I was incurring the expense anyhow. So, rather suddenly, there I was with a room which I shared with other therapists and a “practice”. Naturally, I had to advertise it, although the center’s ads helped too. Soon enough, I had clients, a few at first, followed by a growing number. As I remember it now, I believe my charge was $45 for an hour’s appointment, about average or just below for such a service at that time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t more expensive today.

I took my work very seriously and got a reputation for that, although I was not aware of that immediately. I would not work with someone where there was any chance that shiatsu might make the condition worse, someone with a back injury for example. If after an initial discussion with the client or after working with them, I decided that shiatsu was not the best approach, I would recommend other professionals, including physicians when appropriate. I insisted that clients reserve and pay for one session at a time, no “packages” of five or ten pre-paid and non-refundable sessions, as was very common practice then. I knew that a single session was unlikely to have much impact and I would explain that, but I felt it was the client’s decision whether to continue, not just a matter of “using up” their package. I accepted payment only after providing the therapy and only if the client felt it had been worthwhile. Let’s just say I was an unusual massage therapist and it did not go unnoticed. So much to my surprise, a couple traditional physicians sent me their patients in the hopes that I might be helpful and provided me with a summary of the client’s condition so I could judge whether I wanted to proceed or not. That was very uncommon behavior on the part of traditional physicians back then, so I took it as a great compliment.

After nearly a year, I closed down my practice. It simply conflicted with my overseas consulting, my primary source of income, and I was constantly having to apologize to clients that I would not be able to see them for a month or so. That got old fast. And frankly, there are members of the general public to whom I was introduced who I could easily get along without meeting! They were very few in number, but there are some folks who are just not right for this therapy. They were often emotionally upset for one reason or another and just completely misunderstood what I could do and could not do. But it was the schedule conflict that really made it impossible to continue.

Despite the occasional problem client, I left with many good memories and have never regretted the practice, but I put it behind me at the time and focused on my other work. Although I no longer had a practice and thus did not advertise it, I was to receive phone calls every month or two for the next two years from people who had been referred by past clients or others who had heard of my work. That always came as a surprise, but if I had the time and our phone conversation convinced me that they were serious folks who could potentially benefit, I would do my best to meet their requests.

I suspect you can guess why I am recounting this, but let me summarize quickly:

– I needed extra income.

– I found something that really interested me and that I enjoyed doing, although I had absolutely no background in that specialty.

– I found a good teacher and spent a substantial amount of my free time to learn the practice properly.

– When I was ready for it, I took my public practice very seriously and set high personal standards for ethics and professionalism.

– Without purposely trying, I got a good reputation for my work, far broader than I would have guessed and undoubtedly based on everything listed above, as many told me.

– If I had no other source of income and had put my mind to promotion, it could have provided me with a modest living and possibly more.

– Although I closed my practice, I took with me valuable lessons in everything from dealing with the general public to operating a small business that have remained with me ever since.

– Although it had nothing to do with retirement and was not a Life Sabbatical, per se, it followed the Sabbatical guidelines and they provided the results in an identical manner.

So today’s story is not someone else’s story, but my own for a change. I have a couple more I may share, but I think this one is the most relevant. And by the way, I no longer provide shiatsu (this is a note to folks who live near me now and read this). I would have to go back and relearn what I have forgotten after all these years.

But the lessons learned are every bit as valuable to me today as they were more than three decades ago. I hope they are of some value to you too.
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