The Chiropractic Idea

There exists the chiropractic that is and then the idea of the chiropractic that could be.  This is about what could be.  The desire to write this stemmed from a question that I asked at a Vitalism Conference hosted by Life University a few years ago.  Essentially the conference was intended to find common ground amongst some of the different vitalistic approaches (representatives from chiropractic, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, Naturopathy, holistic medicine were in attendance) and to have a dialogue about how to affect change in the health care system.  As you can imagine, one of the recurring themes of the conference was how to “carve” out our niche in the current health care system.   As the topic came up again and again I began to get a little frustrated because it seemed to me that the conversation was more about how to fit in as opposed to evolve the system.   Now you may be thinking, “Well, of course that’s what dominates the conversation.  That’s our main concern.”  Perhaps it is an important issue to consider but is it the most important?  For me, it’s not.

Since its beginning chiropractic has had to function in a system that is not of our own design.  Throughout the Vitalism Conference I just kept wondering, “what if chiropractic had been discovered and developed in a different environment?”  What if the therapeutic model had not been established?  What if science and spirituality had not been at odds?  What if we started all over and instead of trying to fit into the current model, we created a chiropractic world of our own design?  This is what this blog is about.  It’s a vision of what is possible, not only for the chiropractic profession, but for all of humanity.  It is a vision of a chiropractic utopia.  I invite you to join the vision.  If enough of us see the possibility, perhaps it will become a reality.