Walking a Fine Line

"Walking a Fine Line" was written to inspire professional Wisdom Keepers and communities around the world, and to invite an ongoing, nuanced and collective dialogue on professionalism. For over half a century, an alternative healing arts movement emerged out of a growing need to acknowledge that we are more than our neuroses, psychological problems and material struggles. Many of us who became healing arts professionals felt called to honor the feminine, the intuitive and...
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"Walking a Fine Line" was written to inspire professional Wisdom Keepers and communities around the world, and to invite an ongoing, nuanced and collective dialogue on professionalism. For over half a century, an alternative healing arts movement emerged out of a growing need to acknowledge that we are more than our neuroses, psychological problems and material struggles. Many of us who became healing arts professionals felt called to honor the feminine, the intuitive and spiritual, and to embrace modalities that transcend the mind and bridge ancient wisdom with modern practices. We came to see our clients and students as empowered beings, fully capable of thriving, not as helpless patients, barely able to survive. Most professional Wisdom Keepers know the importance of making ethical decisions, holding conscious boundaries, and understanding the power dynamics that often arise within healing and teaching relationships. Intellectual appreciation, however, doesn't always translate into responsible action. Since many of us working as alternative professionals have no external authority to evaluate the quality of our services, we are especially vulnerable to losing touch with our integrity, without even realizing it. In the end, knowing a technique well and sharing it is only half of our task. Discovering how to share it, with whom, when, how much, why and where make up the other portion, and the answers to these questions are not always simple. A myriad of polarities must be acknowledged and balanced if we are to give our students, clients and ourselves what we all deserve. We must be able to use the left and right sides of our brains, just like the tightrope walker who leans to the left and right at the appropriate time. We must be intuitive, yet think analytically. We must hold the highest visions for ourselves and for those we work with, yet be realistic and emotionally honest. We must work towards spreading and focusing on the light; yet we must befriend, understand, and uncover the treasures hidden in the dark.