![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
23. I'm proud of running a successful business offering bodywork for trauma. If I had known what I was getting myself into and how difficult it was, I would never have started. But I had no idea. I took it one step at a time, exploring and learning and struggling as I went, and eventually after a lot of years it was a full-time practice. I ran the business 23 years in all, in two different cities.
My grandmother had a business in Chile, a handbag factory. I can only imagine how hard it was to get that going as an immigrant in a new country with a new language. I don't know very much about it, and she died when I was 10 years old, long before I would have thought to ask her. My parents both worked for the federal government, and I didn't learn anything about owning and running a business growing up or in college. I had to learn about marketing from scratch.
I found bits of support along the way, business coaching and book coaching and people who were ahead of me on the path so I could learn from their example. There were kinds of support I looked for and never really found, especially supervision around working with trauma. I was off to the side from the formal support that therapists get (and pay for), and I didn't realize until later that I needed that.
I'm glad I did it. I made a difference in people's lives, at the very least as a kind witness to their struggles to heal. I learned an immense amount about being with other people and being with myself and about the human body and how it works, and how it changes under stress.
I'm glad I stopped when I did. My nervous system felt worn down from supporting other nervous systems. I will eventually use my skills as a volunteer somewhere, but two years after stopping I still don't feel ready when I check inside about it.
My grandmother had a business in Chile, a handbag factory. I can only imagine how hard it was to get that going as an immigrant in a new country with a new language. I don't know very much about it, and she died when I was 10 years old, long before I would have thought to ask her. My parents both worked for the federal government, and I didn't learn anything about owning and running a business growing up or in college. I had to learn about marketing from scratch.
I found bits of support along the way, business coaching and book coaching and people who were ahead of me on the path so I could learn from their example. There were kinds of support I looked for and never really found, especially supervision around working with trauma. I was off to the side from the formal support that therapists get (and pay for), and I didn't realize until later that I needed that.
I'm glad I did it. I made a difference in people's lives, at the very least as a kind witness to their struggles to heal. I learned an immense amount about being with other people and being with myself and about the human body and how it works, and how it changes under stress.
I'm glad I stopped when I did. My nervous system felt worn down from supporting other nervous systems. I will eventually use my skills as a volunteer somewhere, but two years after stopping I still don't feel ready when I check inside about it.
