#16 Pay for a massage

Done!

Why did I put this on my list? Well, obviously I wanted a massage. I am a sucker for even a halfhearted back rub. There are a few reasons I specifically phrased it the way I did, the first being that technically I get a professional massage from the boyfriend every time I distract him with football on tv and start complaining of back pain. The second reason being that I have issues spending money on myself for something that I view as an indulgence. It's obviously good to have priorities, but sometimes I need to make myself a priority so that I'm not crazy mom cranky pants.

So this item wasn't high on my list and I was tossing around a few ideas when my favorite yoga studio had a customer appreciation day on December 1st. When a friend of mine suggested signing up for a free massage for that day, I immediately thought, "Surely someone else deserves this massage more than I do." But as days went by and I found out there was still a spot left, I expressed my interest and was able to have my first "real" massage. It was definitely 30 minutes of joy! So I scheduled a massage for the full 60 minutes that I would pay for and here we are!

First of all, the coolest part of scheduling my massage at ommyyoga yoga studio this month is that all profits will go to charity! You can read about this on their website: www.ommyyoga.com

Secondly, this yoga studio is amazing and if you have any interest at all on trying yoga, you should check them out!

And thirdly, their masseuse Dedra is just plain awesome. And since I date a masseuse, I'm biased, and I'm still telling you that Dedra is awesome.

So onto the breakdown:

Expectation: paying for a massage would result in an extremely relaxing experience.

Reality: Yes, it was definitely relaxing. One of the things that struck me was thinking, "Surely it's been an hour by now and my time is up." It honestly did not end up feeling like time flew by, which is a fabulous thing. Another thing that I didn't realize was how much trust is involved in a massage. As the person on the table, you have to trust that the person will help and not hurt, will respect boundaries, will be non judgmental, will be attentive, and (lol) will not tickle you. As a person who is extremely ticklish, it wasn't something I thought to consider going into it, and I am happy to report I was giggle free. Actually, I'm happy that all of those needs were met. So much so that I booked another massage for the day after my birthday as a gift to myself.

One thing I didn't expect was a lingering feeling of guilt. Not over spending money on myself (since it was going to a place I love and a good cause) but over actually being the center of attention for an hour. I suppose that's an odd feeling to have an to share, but it's honest. And maybe it's something I will learn more about as I progress down the rest of my list.

This pretty much sums it up

After updating my list, I went on the web to research more about handwriting analysis and how I could go about informally studying it more.  I was reading up on graphology on wikipedia and it linked to "Gestalt Psychology" and the top of the page said...

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia. (January 2012) Click [show] on the right to read important instructions before translating.[show]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)

This article needs attention from an expert in Psychology. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. WikiProject Psychology or the Psychology Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (October 2009)

 1.  German...on my to-do list because...
 2.  Psychology is my passion and the degree I am (eventually) finishing.

So apparently, after learning German and becoming an expert in psychology I can update an article that is related to the study of handwriting analysis.  I love when I can see my goals working together!