I go for my own mental health to be quite honest. Given all the garbage going on politically in our profession New Beginnings is like a scrub down with a wire brush that gets all the negativity off you. OK, maybe that’s too dramatic – perhaps more like an ion generator machine.

In some ways it’s like going to an amusement park but there’s not enough time to go on all the rides and see all the attractions. So many people to talk to and catch up with, never mind all the great speakers and all the after hours stuff going on.

Besides the usual menu of offerings, this New Beginnings was notable for several reasons including the memorial for Reggie Gold, and the tribute to Irene Gold. It’s amazing how many people were touched by both of their lives. One of my earliest childhood memories is listening to a recording of Reggie telling the Story of the Valley of the Blind – still get a chill just thinking about it. And without Irene kicking my butt through 3 state board reviews who knows what I’d be doing now. They are perfect examples of how the world would have been a lesser place without them in it.

Then there is the League of Women Chiropractors that has emerged. I often talk sarcastically, but truthfully, about the old white men running our profession. I say it with love believe it or not but it’s lopsided no matter what. The situation our profession finds itself in calls for some yin influence and I believe these powerful women can provide it. God knows the men are behaving badly. Next, we need other groups that are traditionally sidelined by our culture and our profession to gather together and speak truth to power.

One such group is the students. In all the nonsense going on with accreditation, cost of education, student loan debt etc. they don’t seem to have a voice and no one seems to be asking them about their concerns. The Cartel has shut them out. But there are 12,000 of them. Many of them lost. Many of them lost and don’t know it yet. That can’t be said about those students that showed up at New Beginnings. By van, bus and plane they traveled to New Jersey and for some of them, to hear the chiropractic message for the first time. They came from Life University, Sherman, Palmer, Northwestern and Three Rivers in Canada. Their enthusiasm was contagious!     

What struck me most this past weekend came up during the luncheon on Saturday where the speakers and others are honored. I was really encouraged by so many individuals within the New Beginnings community that have taken on so much responsibility for the future of this profession. There were people who serve on the Boards of some of our colleges, some who serve on our state boards and many who serve in one capacity or another in the state and national organizations that represent conservative, traditional chiropractic. And most striking were the ones who serve in multiple capacities. Just when you think you are doing all you can you run into someone who has the same 24 hours in a day and is doing more than you are. Amazing!

So, thanks to Jim and Barbara Dubel, the New Beginnings Board, the Inner Circle Members, the speakers and everyone who showed up!