The other day I made the comment that reflexologists need to become writers. There was quite a bit of reaction to my comment. So I thought I would clarify my thinking a little more.
Please understand we never set out to become writers. We were happy to be reflexologists. But as fate would have it there was no book outlining the practices of reflexology and there was a serious threat.
The serious threat was that the techniques and practices had not be documented. And like anything that has not been written down there is a real possibility that these practices can be lost or altered so the existing practices fade out of existence.
There have been many reflexologists over the years who we have encourage to write down their experiences. Many have been reluctant and some have even passed away taking their experiences with them.
Excuses abound from being too busy to not being a very good writer. The bottom line is that if you don't write it down it can slip away very easily.
So here are my reasons to become a reflexology writer.
1) Becoming a writer helps you to become a better reflexologist. Writing helps you to focus on the issues at hand. We are credited with being international experts on reflexology. That didn't happen overnight but there is no question that writing made us focus on what we were observing. It also left a trail that we could pick up on at a later time. It made us focus on each and every pair of feet as a story that need some telling.
2) Becoming a writer documents your work. This isn't just record keeping but it is also documenting your observations. What unique elements did you observe? Or what elements do you see in a fairly consistent basis?
3) Becoming a writer gives you an ability to compare and contrast your results with past results. Or it gives you the ability to compare and contrast the stress cues with other stress cues you have seen. Our whole approach to reading the feet comes from our writing. (We even wrote a whole book on a longer second toe which lead to some really interesting conclusions.)
4) Becoming a writer promotes a good profession image of you. People respect writers in general as having a purpose and a focused approach. It gives you credibility with not only other your clients but other professionals. Writing is an important part of respected professions.
Finally writing can be a joy. It can let you explore an idea and help it grow. It can be very satisfying to see it finally in print. (I will cover this in the next blog.) Becoming a writer can make you grow as not only a reflexologist but also as a person.
With 17 books in 19 languages we have had a great deal of joy from the letters we have received telling us of the help reflexology has been to them.
Writing is somewhat like touching your toes. If you practice enough it becomes easier and easier.
So get writing and don't stop. What would you write about if you were going to write about reflexology?
Kevin Kunz
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