Dooley Noted: 4/20/2014
I spent 21 years in Indiana.
I then spent 3 more in Illinois.
I then spent 4 in Missouri, to complete my doctorate.
I moved to central NY to complete my masters in anatomy, in the middle of nowhere.
But the universe provides what you don’t know you need.
During my masters fellowship, I was shuttled to NYC for two externships.
It was a city I couldn’t shake.
Everyone was motivated. From the bodegas to the board rooms, there was energy, work ethic, and commitment to succeed.
I was offered six jobs upon completion of my thesis. From the Caribbean to Malaysia to New York City, any choice could decide my fate.
After everything, I chose to be close to home.
I chose Missouri.
It lasted one year.
I learned quite a bit about myself in that year. I learned that teaching full time would never be enough of an impact on the world – for me.
In that year, Dooley Noted met its inception, and I attempted to inspire my students to do similar postings.
Some did.
Some didn’t.
As I interned for a brilliant acupuncturist on weekends, I realized I had to be in a city that would let me build my own way. Acupuncture, chiropractic, movement rehab, and anatomy had to all be a part of my life – in equal parts.
I had to sacrifice being driving distance from my family to do what they always knew I would: fly.
I’m currently sitting on a beach in the Caribbean, reflecting on my first year solo in practice. It was this time last year I pistol squatted for the first time, helping me make the decision to build a new type of practice – based on the attainment of strength, stability and mobility.
Colleagues trusted me and referred to me.
Patients, in true NYC fashion, decided they were up for anything – and it worked.
As for the Midwest, I will always be excited to get on a plane and return to the place of my roots.
But it was New York that enabled me to help hundreds of practitioners help their patients and trainers help their clients.
It was a San Francisco boss that trusted a New York import to take his seminar series across the nation, then to three continents in three months.
In the past year, I’ve treated patients from 6 different continents and helped practitioners from over 20 countries help their patients and clients.
So the move, for me, was an important choice.
It was scary. I cried, leaving my family. The first year, I wouldn’t even let myself enjoy my new city. I worked in two associate jobs, trying to figure out what I wanted.
But I knew.
I had to jump.
It was scary. Most wont do it.
But I’ve never felt more alive than in this past year.
I hope you live an inspired life, full of scary and harrowing decisions.
Fear is not an absence of strength. It’s okay to be afraid. Just don’t get stuck in the abyss.
Be afraid. Do it anyway. It works.
I hope you live a brave life. I hope you never settle. I hope you adapt to change and create some change of your own.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley