Acupuncture and Networking

Today I had flaming needles sticking out of my back.

Yep.
I've been to a chiropractor a few times, for neck issues at first but adding in knee and wrist more recently. It just so happens that my chiropractor also does acupuncture. I don't know that I really believe in it or not, but it's not going to do me any harm either so I just go with it. It's a unique experience. Most of the time you don't even feel any pain as they go in, just a little poke. Then once it's in you don't really feel it, you just know it's there- sticking out of you. They'll play some nice Enya or something and you just get to chill for a few minutes then they come and pluck them all out and that's it. Today I had my neck, knees, and wrists all adjusted. After the adjustments my chiropractor lead me, not to the usual room for some acupuncture, but down the hall to another hall with 2 rooms in it. In one is a guy with a smouldering ball of something on a pin sticking out of his shoulder. Into the other one I go and am peppered with pins- I've never felt so much like a pin cushion in my life. Then comes the sound of the match and the smell of smoke. I couldn't tell any difference, but it's something else I can say I've done. When the nurse came back and plucked out my pins she forgot the ones in my wrist, so I got to see those as I asked her to take them out. It's a strange sight to have big silver pins sticking out of your hand.

As I was sitting there contemplating the strange thing that was going on I decided to write this post, and I just planned on writing what I did above- but then I though another interesting thing- I never would have sought out a chiropractor who did acupuncture. In fact I'm pretty sure I would have avoided it when chiropractor shopping. How did I end up here? Networking. My chiropractor is the father of an acquaintance from a few years ago. It made picking a chiropractor pretty easy. I don't know that I even would've started going to a chiropractor had I not known this guy. This got me thinking about the other things I've tried because of someone I knew- rock climbing, sushi, grad school... Yep- I probably wouldn't have done grad school in math if I hadn't gotten to know Dave as an undergrad. Before today I would always just think of networking as meeting people in hopes of getting a leg up on a job- but that's not really what it's about. Networking is all about meeting people who will help you try new things, get out and explore... Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy! I can see now that as my set of friends and acquaintances stagnates so does my exposure to new experiences. I guess it's time to get out an meeting new people.