I have incorporated, which gives me some opportunities beyond being a sole practitioner. Pretty much boring bank and tax stuff; for you as a patient, nothing really changes but the name on the letterhead, so let me tell you about the name.
My own ethnicity is Korean, and I learned acupuncture from Chinese style practitioners. I did study the Japanese language in college, though, and I was always delighted by their greeting.
Rather than “How’s it going?” the Japanese say “O genki desu ka?” Are you genki?
So what is genki? Genki is vitality, liveliness, the color in your cheeks, the spring in your step. If you look at the characters, it breaks down to “generating ki.” Ki, or Qi, as I learned it in acupuncture school, is vital energy. Living things have qi. Dead things used to have qi. Inanimate, inorganic things do not have qi.
Literally, asking if you are genki is asking if you are alive. When you feel alive, don’t you feel great? “O genki desu ka?” “Do you feel vital/fantastic/alive/well?” It is kind of a loaded concept, but isn’t it cool?
So that is genki. Neko is cat, and mine happened to be in the room when I was filling out my incorporation papers. My cat is soooo genki. He is pretty much the genkiest thing that ever lived. And I love that ^__^ can either mean a cat face or a smile.
It takes a lot of explanation, and yes, I am licensed to work on people, not pets! So that is my new operating name.
