Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Massaging A Life: Trish Salazar

Maria-Elena, the barista at Parco who applauds every time I give out a gold star, had alerted me to her friend and neighbor standing there, to her "really cool job."

"What do you do?" I asked.

She smiled, somewhat sheepishly. "I massage people, in the Hamptons."

I laughed. "Nice, I love that!"

Turns out, as we sat and talked, that Trish Salazar has built a clientele organically, patiently allowing her skills to speak for themselves. And people have clearly taken notice, rewarding her with business and opportunities and with spreading the word about her to their friends. She is modest, that much is obvious, but she is also warm and genuine and awesome with a killer smile, all great traits to make people feel at ease on the massage table, to allow people to get the most out of their hour.

"You made my day, I love you!" she enthused as I gave her her gold star.

No surprise, that is my favorite response, the one I hope many people feel even if they don't say it quite as boldly. Trish is bold, I loved her too! We talked for quite a while, sharing the ways in which we are both working hard to figure our lives and careers, to put plans in place but also to find the patience to let life unfold in the magical ways it does when we are not trying to exert total control. It is a hard balance for sure. Plan and there is no room for spontaneity, don't plan and you risk having nothing going on.

Trish is wrestling with what direction to take, grappling with it, so to speak, but ever so gently and calmly. Just talking to her I felt like I was relaxing, the tensions flowing out of me a bit. She squeezed my shoulder as she walked out of the cafe and I thanked her for the free brief massage...

I'm definitely going to reach out to Trish for a massage! She said she could come to me or I could visit her, at her house with her neighbors' chickens out back. "Fresh eggs..." she beckoned. I'm definitely going, sometime soon, before her plans take her elsewhere, to the Hamptons, or before the magical things she is ready to allow whisk her into a different world, or keep her in the same world, appreciating the view.

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