Keynote Address AOMA Graduation September 12, 2009
I am delighted and honored to be here to celebrate your graduation with you. Last Sunday I was sitting in a meditation hall at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido , California , and recognize this happy moment. Take a moment to acknowledge and feel your accomplishment, which has come to fruition after years of hard work.
Ceremony belongs to the realm of the fire phase, the realm of the shen and the heart. The heart allows us to joyfully connect with others, to feel and offer gratitude to all the people and things that have inspired us and gotten us to this potentially happy moment: our teachers, for example, our loved ones. Shen locates us in the here and now, and allows to act from our deepest intentions and aspirations in the here and now. It seems important to remember your aspirations—what drew you to this medicine those years ago—as you stand on the threshold of making this medicine your own.
Making Oriental Medicine your own—that is the key to your success as a practitioner. You have learned from many teachers, the stream practitioners before you who have kept this medicine alive for thousands of years. And now it is your turn to step into the stream.
How do you make Oriental Medicine your own? You make time and space to listen for what inspires you. You allow yourself to be nourished. You find what makes you happy. You trust yourself. You cultivate your talents and gifts, the things that make you unique as a practitioner. You know and respect your limits. You cultivate internal and external resources to help you. You find what offers you encouragement when things get tough. You stay curious. You keep learning. You develop a relationship to the unknown. You let your patients and your challenges teach you, and let your experiences make you wise. If you do these things, people will be happy come to you for treatment.
25 years ago, I was in your seat, happily graduating in a graduating class of 8 people, in a country where it was legal to practice our medicine in only a handful of states (Texas , many of them said “what’s that?”
I was drawn to our medicine because of its beauty and power. Because it treated people as whole beings. Because it worked. I was drawn to this ancient medicine, because it was something “new.” I was excited because I knew that I could have a hand in shaping how Oriental Medicine was practiced here in my country, in my time.
25 years later, this is truer than ever. We are still pioneers. What many of us have known for so long is now at the forefront of the national debate: Our healthcare system is broken. We are fortunate that we practice a medicine that has the power to transform, not only individual lives, but communities, society, the planet. There has never been a time in the history of Oriental Medicine in America , or whether we want it or not, this is part of our medicine.
Right now we have the opportunity, not only to influence the practice of Oriental Medicine, but to participate in the transformation of our whole healthcare system. If there was ever a time to get involved at this level it is now. There are great people in our profession doing great work in this regard. Some of those people did the hard work of making it so you can practice legally in all but a handful of states in the US , community clinics, medical schools, nationally funded research projects, regional accreditation boards, etc. My father-in-law used to send us clippings from the newspaper or magazines whenever acupuncture was mentioned (I think it was his way of saying, “so this is really legitimate.”) He has stopped doing that lately. I think he gets it now.
Last weekend, in New Mexico —a state where oriental medicine practitioners worked for and achieved primary care physician status—New Mexico , our national professional organization gave about 100 treatments to legislators from all over the country at the National Foundation for Women Legislators conference. (They loved it by the way. The first brave few, told their friends, and then there was a deluge…) We did this because we wanted the work we do, the medicine we practice, to be in the awareness and felt experience of lawmakers at a time when the healthcare system is on everyone’s mind.
I encourage you to include as part of your professional life, the active participation in your state and national acupuncture associations. I encourage you to include the healing of communities, society, and the planet in your vision of how you practice Oriental Medicine.
Now, just a couple fun facts to launch your careers:
In 2006—the first of the 76 million baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, turned 60. As a member of this generation, the generation that brought alternative medicine to the edge of the mainstream, I can say that we have never been content with the status quo, even as we are creating it. 76 million baby boomers getting old…I am sure we don’t want to do getting old the way it has been done before… I recommend knowing something about geriatrics…
In 2007—more babies born in the US , so some pediatrics wouldn’t hurt either….
Lastly, I want to remind you that you if you plan to make this profession your livelihood, you have made a lifelong commitment to cultivating a relationship with qi, healing, and transformation, and that includes your own. I wish you many moments of happiness in the practice of this beautiful medicine. I am happy to have you as my colleagues.
Congratulations!
