monday notes: what does ripple do?

i'm currently looking for more clients and i spent most of the day thinking about how to invite people to work with me.

i came up with this as the easiest, breeziest way to describe what i do

"the most casual & intimate unlicensed therapist & bodyworker you’ll ever have: i help people build the relationships they want even when life feels like shit"

i'm casual because thats whats most effective for growing and learning and changing.

im intimate because i actually share about my own life as examples to help you better understand yours.

im unlicensed because i'm legit opposed to the therapeutic industrial complex. because i focus more holistically not just on your problems, but the environment of power that you exist within. the biggest hurdle to making our lives better is how power is hidden from us — both what we have power over and what we are powerless to. its amazing how much some support around accepting our powerlessness (and making some plans) can lower our stress levels and help us just be ourselves. 

i'm also not licensed for massage because i oppose the legislation of touch. i care more about showing people how to touch themselves and know how they want to be touched. that makes touch much safer and more about being empowered, than giving up power to a practitioner.

i focus on relationships because EVERYTHING IS RELATIONAL. material reality is fundamentally relational – all of our experiences are the product of power relations. my internal world is the result of all my internal relationships, nature and society are interlocking webs of deep and evolving connections.

i focus on building and appreciating relationships even when we feel like shit because, frankly, few of us feel great all of the time. these are fuuuuucked up times, not just because of global fascism on the rise in the past decade, but because of the last 50-70 years of domination of the power-elite. we are so separated from each other. cultural niches make it soo hard to communicate, our words and actions literally mean different things to each other. its isolating and feels like shit AND bridging these gaps is some of the most important work we can possibly do in our life time.

i make this greater point because it literally just feels better to be devoted to a cause greater than us. lets rehabilitate selfishness as a way of being communally oriented. lets not let ourselves fall out of connection when we feel like shit. we NEED EACH OTHER SO BAD. lets reach out to our friends when we haven't heard from them for a while. lets double text when they don't get back to us. lets practice not taking others lack of capacity personally, or even their judgement. lets practice not taking OUR OWN judgement personally.

there's so many things that i help people with that its hard to boil it all down... i wrote some other statements about what i help people with that i also wanna share...

— i help people with big personalities who take up a lot of space navigate a world where they aren’t allowed to and i help people who want to take up more space figure out HOW. i want us all to be silly muppets together. 

— i help people remember how to be themselves, in community, so they can solve their own problems with others

— i help people who are sick of constantly educating their therapist on culture and oppression to get the care they need, through a deeply political lens. 

— i help people learn to receive the honest care & support we all need so desperately but are constantly denied. i show people how to model what they need to receive so they can teach their community to care for them.

— i help people understand their conflicts, and include everyone as a part of the solution.

— i help people remember how to love themselves particularly in the shit parts of their lives because thats where the learning is.

— i help people who want to do big things get big enough to hold those dreams even if they are fucking terrified

— i help poly and poly curious people build relationships where they are satisfied and supported and work through fear and anxiety. i help everyone build badass inner circles where they don't feel alone because everyone needs that.

do any of these statements resonate with you? would you be so generous as to share with me what landed for you? i need support and feedback to grow into new client relationships!

and some reflection questions:

how do you long to be held and cared for?

what is the season of life you're in? are you turning inward or moving outward?

what is the support your body calls for? what support do you logically think you need? do these different parts of you align?

<3 ripple