Reconnecting: A Story About Life Changes & Facebook

I became a certified T’ai Chi Chih teacher in April 1997, and in the late 1990’s I owned the TCC Studio in Great Falls, Virginia. Until Fall 2003 I taught hundreds of TCC courses (often 20-25 classes a week); many teachers in the Washington, DC region were once my students. TCC was my only source of income for five years; it was my career until classes suddenly diminished, for reasons I am still uncertain. Since my background is personal training, sales, and marketing, I then went into health club management full time and stopped teaching TCC for various reasons. I still practiced but not as regularly as when I taught. TCC never left me though; everything I learned still remained and the people I learned from were still in my mind.

I knew I would get back to TCC; I just didn’t know how and when. In Fall 2008, shortly after I moved to Boca Raton, Florida, I lost my job and was under a lot of stress. When I began a full and consistent TCC practice, lot of things began happening. I remember telling my mother that I hadn’t felt this good in a long time, and that I must start teaching TCC again. Without a place to teach I built a website and start promoting myself again. There is definitely uncertainty in the air right now with the down economy, with people losing jobs and homes. The message I got while doing TCC practice was clear: we need to re-connect with ourselves and others, re-invent ourselves we must adapt as the world changes, and re-establish ourselves because what might have worked to get TCC students in the past may not work now. It’s like starting over.

Recently I was invited by an old friend to join Facebook, a social networking website. I resisted joining for a year but decided it was time. I instantly re-connected with friends from the past five to 30 years. It was a joy to speak with people and see how their lives have changed. Shortly after joining Facebook I came across the TCC group page, and in speaking with many TCC teachers, confirmed that I needed to get back into teaching. By then I’d found a few places to teach; I just needed students. Connecting with people on Facebook and displaying advertisements about my free presentations drove people to my personal TCC website. I have a few small classes now, which is a good start.

I believe that Facebook and other social networking tools can be very helpful in the future growth of TCC. I invite friends, students, and family members to join. I post links, write on “walls,” and create discussions similar to a forum. It will only work if you are proactive, though. Starting a discussion without maintaining it won’t do much to help build TCC, your classes, or connect with people. It can seem time consuming at first, but I believe the benefits are worth the effort. I’m certain to see more of you on Facebook soon, and I’ll be glad to discuss how I use the internet to promote TCC.