I’m using this post to draft preliminary thoughts for an op-ed piece or letter-to-the-editor about the importance of supporting some of the measures on the ballot that impact community colleges.

Some well known facts about community colleges:

1. When the economy is in trouble, the state cuts the budget.
2. When the economy is in trouble, unemployment is rising.
3. When unemployment rises, enrollment demand for community college classes rises (community colleges are the primary resource for re-training or upgrading job skills).
4. When the state cuts the budget, (see #1), the community colleges get cut back and can’t meet enrollment demand for re-training or upgrading of skills.
5. It is not a big leap to realize that cutting back the community colleges in economic downturns has a retrograde influence on economic recovery; it would make better sense to increase community college funding at these times to strengthen the workforce.

Some additional thoughts that ought to be obvious if they are not:

• Crime also rises during economic downturns.
• People who are improving themselves with retraining or developing new skills are less likely to turn to crime for solutions to their problems.
• Could better funding for community colleges during economic downturns help reduce crime growth?

Some Q and A

Q – Will California”s Proposition 30 provide new money for Community Colleges? 

A – No. 

Q – Will it avert triggered additional cutbacks in January?

A – Yes.

Q – Will the Chabot/Las Positas Community College District Measure I provide growth money for the district’s colleges?

A – No.

Q – Will it help offset some of the cuts of the past two years and possible additional cuts in January?

A – That depends on what happens with Proposition 30, but Measure I will definitely help to stabilize the district budget for the next seven years.

A pre-dawn zephyr grazes my bare skin,

ruthlessly teases me into consciousness

of rainbow waves of light advancing, washing

through me, of a subtle sound of silence

that muffles the awakening tumult of urban

traffic, strips me of surroundings, casts

me into a vast empty beauty of stillness.

Copyright William Kester.  September 28, 2012

This is the region of the body that more clients come to me for help with than any other. Many other massage therapists would say the same thing.  Fully describing the variations of conditions clients bring to me would fill at least a book; describing the specific treatments for each would fill another. But what I wish to clarify in this space today are some ways that what I provide may be particularly useful and beneficial to you or someone you know.

First, I have extensive training and experience with the anatomy of this region.  I am familiar with key muscles and groups of muscles and how they interact in a pain-free person, and I am familiar with assessing how and where things get tight, sore, or torn. And I am knowledgeable and experienced in how to treat a variety of conditions: working deeply or gently, addressing trigger points when they are active (and sometimes when they are latent), finding and treating referral patterns.  At times I work in areas many therapists are not trained or experienced in treating that can provide relief from some whiplash conditions, for example.

Additionally, my training and experience in craniosacral therapy prepares me to treat conditions such as Temperomandibular Joint Dysfunction,migraine, and other conditions. Furthermore, I can often help clients discover important use patterns that contribute to chronic conditions.

It is important to recognize that I don’t diagnose conditions (Medical Doctors are trained and licensed to do that). It is also important to point out that I palpate and Assess in ways that MDs typically don’t. Honoring those distinctions helps clients understand the different roles more clearly and use our services in ways that compliment each other.

As I consider how this blog may best compliment my other online presences (website: http://billkesterhealingarts.massagetherapy.com, my yelp account, and my new Facebook account, I find myself wondering whether I should focus on material immediately relevant to my work or on material that gives “deep background” about me and my interests. Most likely the solution is to use two blogs. For now, I believe I shall present some insights into my work with clients and how my approach might provide relief from aches, pains, and other issues. Next post: Working with Head, Neck and Shoulders.

So. I opened a business account with Facebook, and I am trying to get the hang of it. Not doing very well yet. With barely a photo and a business name to start, I sent out a solicitation to 104 clients asking them to consider becoming subscribers. I do hope I am not offending any of them; it’s not the kind of thing I have done up until now. But here’s the thing: when I was renting space at Yoga Mandala on Telegraph I was visible to many people just by showing up. Now that I am in a private office, I am less visible, and my appointment volume has declined. Naturally, I want to see if there is a way I can reconnect with clients I have served and get myself introduced to new ones.

Welcome to Bill Kester’s Blog. This is my very first post.

I have thought for some time that I should be writing a blog, but I have procrastinated for some common reasons: for example, which passion should I focus on (my work as a massage therapist, poetry, shamanic studies, the wonders of nature, the evolving family I am part of);  who am I writing for; who might have the remotest interest in reading it.  At this point it is no single one of these by intention; it is a ramble. That structure reflects truly the life I am currently leading.  Perhaps the act of writing about it will lead me to branch off some key themes, patterns or topics into blogs of their own, and the ramble will morph into something different.

If anyone chooses to check in on my journey from time to time, I shall be flattered.  If it provides pleasure, insight or discovery to anyone, I shall be in transports of joy!

Thanks for tuning in!