Five years ago I realized one of my dreams.  I, along with two friends, opened a place called The Healing Space on Main.  The seed for this dream was actually planted in Bristol, England in 1998.  I had the privilege of spending two weeks at the University of Bristol while working on my Masters in Social Work at UWM.
It was an exchange program where students of Child Welfare in both countries had the opportunity to walk in each others shoes for a few weeks.
 We worked in agencies and visited court rooms during the day and had evenings and weekends to visit the many amazing sights in that part of England.
Although I enjoyed visiting Stonehenge, Bath and the streets of Bristol one particular outing had a lasting effect on me.  My friend Linda and I had a whole afternoon off and she found a place called the 'The Relaxation Center" for us to visit.  The Center was located in an old three story home surrounded by English cottage gardens.  We thought we were just going there for massages but found out that it was "ladies day" and we were welcome to stay the whole afternoon.
In addition to massages the place had a hot tub right in the middle of the all the gardens, and a sensory deprivation chamber (tried it, didn't like it) and a relaxation room.  The relaxation room was what intrigued me the most. It was a large room with high ceilings  with four triple bunk beds piled high with colorful pillows and an assortment of shelves stocked of books of every kind.  We were told we could spend as much time as we like there, napping, reading or even eating.  We even had the option of ringing for a snack and tea from a small menu that was posted.  We had a most enjoyable afternoon there and left feeling like we had experienced a little bid bit of paradise.
As I continued with my Masters work, I became more and more certain that I wanted to become a psychotherapist and began working in agencies that provided me with field experience.  I found all my jobs to be interesting and challenging but image of the Relaxation Center in England never left me.  Gradually I started to write down ideas for a holistic wellness center that would include my practice and hopefully the practice of others like massage therapists, yoga teachers and others who were interested in the idea of holistic healing.
My dreams and ideas really started to take shape when I found that a long time friend of mine, Arleen, had a similar vision.  Arleen had been an RN for years and in recent years had been drawn to holistic nursing, but was finding resistance in the traditional medical field.  Arleen along with another nurse, Patty combined our ideas and resources and opened The Healing Space on Main in July of 2008.
Five years have passed and both Arleen and Patty have gone onto other ventures and the Healing Space is no longer on Main but on Appleton Avenue in Diane Sutrick's Peace Yoga building.
The Healing Space has changed and adapted, as have I, through the past five years but thanks to the support of family, friends and clients, the dream continues on.
I am blessed!!