If you were to ask me when I was a kid if Massage was the career I pictured myself doing, the answer would be no. For some reason at that time in my life I wanted to be a dentist.. not a superhero, not a princess, not even a teacher or a doctor...a dentist. And that was solely based that on the fact, I simply loved to go and I only loved to go because they gave me toys at the end of my appointments.
The second I stepped into University, the universe had other plans for me. I quickly realized that the dentistry path was not for me but dropping out of University wasn’t an option either (unless I wanted to be homeless). So I stuck it out. I plowed through for 6 years and finished with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and minoring in Recreation Management.
At this point you’re probably thinking that is the most random degree...well you’re right. This is why I chose it.
While I was still in university, I was playing ringette competitively and I discovered how much I love athletics and sport. So I thought... well screw dentistry, I should get into personal training. So I tried to get into the Kinesiology and Athletic therapy program. I tried 2 times but my GPA wasn’t high enough, so that was a bust. I kept thinking about it and discovered well I love fitness and health and I have a strong desire to help and inspire people, maybe physiotherapy is for me. I took all the prerequisites for it, and surprisingly at the time a lot of those were psychology courses, but NOPE, my GPA was still shitty and not competitive enough. Then I tried for Occupational therapy, still no. When I felt that all my options ran out, I thought, let me get out of this hell hole, finish some sort of degree, and move on with my life.
After finishing my Bachelor Degree, I figured I’d start working as a support worker, that’s mostly psychology right? Well...it is like 1% psychology and 99% babysitting. Yes, I was helping, inspiring, and empowering people to a small degree but it was not fulfilling me like I had hoped. Being told I had to wipe a someone’s butt after they took a shit was the final straw for me.. I needed to get out of there.. I needed more out of a career.
After doing that for about a year, I applied to a Chiropractic Clinic as a receptionist. I am not going to speak too much about my experience there but I would say it was my TSN Turning Point. At that point in my life, I began Olympic Weightlifting semi competitively. My body was getting beat up 4 times a week so I started getting massages 1x/week with a Massage Therapist at the clinic I worked at. Her name is Celeste and I hope she reads this one day because she is truly the person who inspired me to pursue massage. Her knowledge of the human body and her enthusiasm to teach and tell me about it lifted me every single visit. Plus she loved to sing and dance during my treatments and that always brought a light and fun energy into the room.
I applied into Massage College in 2018 and found out I got accepted a couple months after my application interview.
Massage college came with many more TSN Turning Points for me too. I discovered a lot about my mental health, I ended a 6 year relationship, and I found my truest, most heart fulfilling passion: Massage Therapy.
I love what I do and I love who I get to do it for: humans (although dogs would be cool too). Life is too short to not feel fulfillment, I hope you find that one day and I hope my blog posts can push you in the right direction, whatever that is for you.
~Felicia
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