How I Got Started in Acupuncture

Its been nearly 17 years since I started studying Chinese medicine (Chinese medicine includes acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and other modalities). People ask me weekly or even more often how I got interested in this field. Here is a short version: I was a computer guy at Dell computers in Austin Texas for nearly a decade. I was pretty good at computers but I didn't feel like I wanted to do that forever. Someone at Dell loaned me, seemingly randomly, a book on Chinese medicine call 'The Web That Has No Weaver.' I read it and really connected with the philosophy of this medicine that I had never even considered before. At the time I had great health insurance with Dell (I think I paid $40 a month and a $10 copay!) so I went to the doctor whenever I sneezed. I also found that I usually tossed the inevitable prescription in the trash as I walked out the door. I think I was beginning to wonder if there was a better way to stay healthy. So a few years later I left Dell and started my journey into Chinese medicine. They say that in ancient China the doctor of the Emperor would get paid while the Emperor was well, and would not get paid when the Emperor was ill. Though this probably would not work nowadays, a do like the philosophy of prevention that is associated with our medicine.