Soul Searching

After 16 years of keeping my nose to the grindstone, focusing on honing my skills, and deepening my knowledge of Chinese Medicine, I have decided to take a sabbatical. By any standards, I have been successful in my practice, and for that I am truly grateful. However, over the last four or five years there has been a growing voice inside me. It started as a whisper, and has grown louder and louder. What about those who are less fortunate than us? Those who have no access to Chinese Medicine? I have kept these words at bay by doing what I can here in NYC, and across the country, by teaching, and helping interested practitioners raise their skill level. It has not been enough. So, after much soul searching, I have decided to take a sabbatical. During this sabbatical I have a number of goals; to look inside myself and see how I want to manifest this need to help others more fully, to see some places in the world I have only dreamed about, and to help those in need with the skills that I have.

The trip will be 6 to 9 months long. Patients will be informed of my exact return date through two mailings, the first 3 months before my return, and the second 1 month before my return. I will visit NYC briefly in December 2005, February 2006, and March 2006. I will be seeing patients during these times for a day or two.

My current itinerary begins in Indonesia and is followed by Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal, and a brief stint in India. Then I’ll travel from South Africa, via the eastern coast of Africa to Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt ending in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and finally Greece.

I am hoping to do aid work where ever I go (I am arranging as much of this now as I can). I don’t know if it’s possible in each country or area, but I will do my best to find it. If anyone has any connections they are willing to share, it would be greatly appreciated – no matter how grassroots.

I am going to try and set up a website to document the voyage so everyone can keep tabs on me, should they be so inclined. http://www.frankbutler.net

Caring for my patients while I am gone will be my talented colleague Abbey Fromkin, Licensed Acupuncturist. Abbey teaches at some of the local acupuncture graduate programs, tutors students in those programs, and treats patients at Soho Herbs
and Acupuncture. She has been assisting me for four years. She knows my methods well, and to them she adds her own special blend of skills. She has years of massage therapy experience, she assists me in teaching my bodywork seminars, and she treats me when I need it. I encourage you to see her in my absence. I believe you will be happy with the results.

Abbey will also have the list of referrals that I use in and around NY, from medical doctors, to specialists, to massage therapists. So please feel free to contact her for more information.

In closing, I want to thank you for being my patients over the years. Much of my learning has come from working with you. It is my hope to take those lessons to the next level. I look forward to seeing you again upon my return. Take care.