Mechanics
It’s struck me today as I was dismantling my old washing machine that I am a particular kind of person.
Namely one who gleefully and almost obsessively likes to dive under the hood of any given machine to learn more about its working design.
Luckily for me, I had company this time and therefore an opportunity to share this love with my curious offspring. And so my children and I fell upon the washer that for the past year has given us a reliable sort of trouble with our screwdrivers, pliers and a socket wrench.
Some might call it destructive, I call it homeschool.
A patient stopped by in the middle of these shenanigans, one who also shares my love of discovery and machines apparently and I could tell that they were intrigued that I was clearly equally happy in my front garden with a screwdriver as I am in my office with an acupuncture needle and that, as so often happens when I witness myself through the lens of another, offered me clarity.
How do you sell an obsession?
I have often pondered the question that most businesses begin with: “what am I selling?”.
You see, when you work in the service industry, the answer to this question isn’t always clear. For my part, there are several answers to this question depending on your perspective, from marketing consultant to accountant, patient to clinician, I sell many things.
Today however, I flipped that question on its head a bit and asked myself…”what do I like selling?” Also a complex question when you work in a service industry, because unlike folks who are making things or designing things to sell, I spend the majority of my sales time doing the thing that I sell.
Another perspective on this question is “what do my customers want to buy?”. This might be the most interesting perspective yet because I rather think that the answer to questions 2 and 3 has more to do with the washing machine currently in pieces in my garden than it does with the doctoral degree in my office.
A particular kind of obsession
As I am a particular kind of person, so too are my patients.
There are two types of people, I find, who choose to use acupuncture and Chinese medicine to address their health issues:
1. Folks who have tried everything else, none of its worked and are using it as a last resort; and
2. Folks who would only use conventional medicine as a last resort
Either way, to them I am a mechanic of sorts and lucky for them I am handier with a needle than I am with a wrench. But more important even than my ability to wield a needle is my ability to assess what’s going on inside. And for this, my obsession with how things work is exactly what my customers pay for.
Who’s going to tell my accountant?
For the type 1 customer, everyone else has had their fingers on the problem but with very little success and so my tenacity and fresh perspective (thanks to that doctoral degree) are what will serve them.
For the type 2 customer, they need someone they can trust to help and educate them about what is causing their health concerns. Most folks who dismiss conventional anything have a bit of an adventurous spirit in them and so again my curiosity and willingness to guide them on this journey is exactly what they need.
Notice I haven’t mentioned needles or herbs yet…me too. Lets try explaining to my accountant that I’m not selling acupuncture and herbs.
Of course, I am gentle and skillful with my acupuncture needles. But I see those tools as more of a directive to your body than anything else. It is after all your body that ultimately does the healing.
And herbal medicine is just a gentler and more natural form of pharmaceutical medicine. Superior in my opinion, yes, but also a chemical introduction that requires finesse.
So, can I fix any medical problem that walks through my door? No! Unfortunately there are patients that are beyond the scope of my care. Acupuncture needles and herbs have limitations and so do I.
My gift, the one I am most excited to share with you is my ability to see and communicate the bigger picture of your health, holistically, as a human, both spiritual and physical within the wider context of our ecosystem.
The mechanics of your humanness is my obsession
What about the washing machine you ask? Well, the other part of that obsession is my commitment to finding usefulness and beauty in everything …even the broken washer.
I took it apart for a reason: because even though it hasn’t washed my clothes efficiently in over a year, I knew that inside it had more life to live.
I feel the same way about you.
It is often in our brokenness that we can find the beauty that we’ve forgotten
So, we now have a new bowl, a fire pit, a motor (for which we are currently dreaming up a use), and a very satisfying “stim” toy. I set aside the water pump too as it was the cause of all that predictable trouble. Clearly I need to take that apart further so that I can understand why!? I saved a gasket, a solenoid and some hoses for my mechanically minded patient because I also like to share.