Love and Light and Fuck You, Namaste

I’m going to spare the magazines that host my blog from having to call me up and tell me they are censoring me because of this blog…I just won’t load it to them. This is my personal site and I can be just as irreverent as I please. I can also take a break from writing about massage politics today just because I want to.

I don’t recall which of my illustrious FB friends I first heard use the phrase “Fuck you, Namaste,” but it was in reference to the behavioral trend that some massage therapists have, presenting themselves to be all about love and light and positivity and serenity, while at the same time letting their own true judgmental tendencies, their passive-aggressive hostility, and their lack of critical thinking skills shine right through. I see it every day. In fact it gets thrown in my face most days.

I am plain-spoken and leave people no room for doubt about my opinions. That sometimes comes across as rudeness when I don’t intend that, especially on the Internet where you can’t hear people’s tone of voice or see their body language or have face to face communication. There are also plenty of times when I intend for my rudeness to come through loud and clear. I can be passionate about something and go from zero to bitch in 2.5 seconds in defending it. I admit that I am missing the tact gene. The difference in me and some people is that I own up to it. I call it like I see it. No one in the massage profession can truthfully say that I have ever presented myself as love and light. I have not. Nor am I the “bitter, vindictive” woman that someone referred to me as last week.

I report on massage politics and the actions (or inaction) of our professional associations, along with a healthy dose of my own opinion about it. I proselytize for massage therapy research, and I expose things that have been proven false, like the myths of massage, or those that are scamming massage therapists and/or the public.

A frequent topic of argument on massage forums is energy work. People have the mistaken conception that I am against energy work. I am not against energy work; I started practicing it myself in 1993, five years before I took my first massage class. I am against holding it out to the public as something other than what it is–healing that you take on faith. It is the same with religion. There’s no double-blind study that we can conduct to prove the efficacy of energy work or the existence of God. You take it on faith, if you’re so inclined. Just say so. That is all.

Tonight I was in a discussion that escalated–it had nothing to do with energy work–but again, the old Fuck you, Namaste, is rearing its head. There are several lively groups of MTs on FB that regularly get into debates on any topic under the sun pertaining to massage. And as is the case when more than one person is present, there is going to be some disagreement. I suggested that someone ought to start a group called “Love and Light” for people who just want to schmooze and pat each other on the back. I won’t be the one starting that.

Debate is a polite word for argument. I wrote a blog about it several years ago. Emotions run high. While I try to refrain from name-calling, there’s plenty of times when I’d like to. If you’re going to make a claim on a public forum, you ought to be prepared to back that up with something besides website hype. If you’re throwing out a “question” to the group that turns out to be one long sales pitch for your MLM group or whatever you’re selling, don’t expect that to fly by too many of us who regularly question things. We’re not that stupid.

There’s a lot of old sayings I can think of concerning the character of human beings. One is “If you spot it, you’ve got it.” Another is “While you point the finger, three of them are pointing back at you.” One old favorite is, “What you think of me is none of my business.” My personal favorite is one that I just saw the other day: “I don’t have an attitude problem. You have a problem with my attitude and that’s not my problem.”

I’m not Miss Popularity. Some people who detest me follow my blog or stay on my FB page because they are interested in knowing what’s going on with the organizations even though they don’t like me personally. That’s fine with me. Somehow I will survive knowing that you don’t love me. And there genuinely are some people here that I can say I have never seen act even remotely hostile or patronizing. But when I see a “Fuck you, Namaste” coming from someone who claims to avoid all negativity while they are going about spreading fairy dust, let me just say, I have had my laugh for the day at your expense, because I have enough balls to own my character traits–or lack of them–and you don’t.

Complaints about my unprofessional behavior may be directed to 1-800-WHAAAAA. Namaste.