Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68008
I am so pleased to see this online edition. It is about time. Please stop sending me the paper copy of Massage & Bodywork. Let's save trees and our landfi lls. JANINE WRZESNIEWSKI KANEOHE, HAWAII RAISING THE STANDARDS I just fi nished reading Ruth Werner's article on continuing education and raising the standards for massage therapy ("Be Excellent," September/ October 2008, page 38). I just wanted to thank her for taking the time to write this article. I am an inspired and fairly new massage therapist working in Los Angeles, and I appreciate her clear, articulate, and knowledgeable input in Massage & Bodywork magazine. I look forward to reading more. Please keep it up! ELIZA PFISTER LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA IT WILL HAPPEN I am a 30-year-old, male therapist who has been working in the industry for more than a year and a half now. Recently I was hired by a highly reputable day spa/salon/institute. My spirits couldn't have been lifted higher. I have been plugging away at fi nding a job just like this one for what seems like eons now. They offer everything from 30 minute to three and a half hour massage and body treatments to chakra balancing. They take an ayurvedic approach to skin care—which is better for us and our environment—and manage to stay ahead of the norm and set trends rather than follow them. The added bonus is that I will, for the fi rst time since becoming a therapist, be working with like-minded individuals, treated with the kind of respect every massage therapist looks for in an employer, and I will be getting paid a very fair wage, one that would suggest my time and knowledge is of The Best in Award Winning Healing/Spa Music from multi-Grammy Award nominated PETER KATER HE VOLUME 4 HEALING SERIES value to my new employer, and not to be taken advantage of or taken for granted. We all know this happens far too often in this profession. I have struggled and have barely gotten by and have let the frustrations that go with making it in the industry really get to me at times. To everyone who has been struggling to get by, to get an interview, or to fi nd a place that will give the respect you feel you deserve, don't give up. It will happen. JAYME MICHIGAN WHAT KIND OF MT ARE YOU? Robert Chute's article "What Kind of MT Are You?" in the July/August issue was hilarious (page 56). In response to 10A and 11D, I have my own presentation. I tell folks that my plan B for world peace is massage therapy. Here's how it works: everyone gets a massage once a week. Simple. I fi gure it will only take about four weeks for the true grumps to sort themselves out, and they are probably only about 10 percent of the population. We put them to work shoveling compost, and the rest of us can have a life and a thriving planet. I wrote my own pledge, too: "I pledge allegiance to Mother Earth, and to the life force that she supports, one planet, full of diversity, with cooperation and integrity for all." ROBIN WEST GARBERVILLE, CALIFORNIA Mus i c f o r Ba l anc e , Int e g r i t y , Gr a c e , Ri ght Ac t i on and Ri gh t Re l a t i ons also A stunning new all acoustic recording with Peter Kater, Dominic Miller, Kenny Loggins and Jaques Morelenbaum Available at www.peterkater.com visit massageandbodywork.com to access your digital magazine 15