Monk(ey) business in Lyme Lands
Written by Huib, published Wednesday February 24th, 2016
“Paths are made by walking” Franz Kafka
A career without context
This is a question that an increasing number of people is asking me, as it becomes more clear that I offer no solution nor any other direct service for people who have Lyme themselves. At least none that has a business model behind it: I try my best to create what they claim to most yearn for: understanding by their friends and family. That’s my Priceless work.
I really do understand why people don’t get what I do. Even within the clearcut environment of a business university, my clients did not get what (the purpose of) my work actually consisted of. Or at least not at first glance. So I guess I made a career out of being misunderstood. Works fine for me and it also paid well in my previous work in business education.
The last thing that will now help to explain my current work in Lyme lands is to connect my last hot chicks blog post to a monk story. Which is a great reason to do just that. So…
Here we go
In ancient Japan someone like me would have been called a monk. Society valued such a role, even though people fully well understood that it added no “economical value”. Sometimes even emperors would use them as advisors, as is mentioned in the famous novel Mushashi (1935). Some were warrior monks, some beggar monks.
When I was in Japan, over twenty years ago, I saw such a monk. He was standing in an underground subway station, with his head bent low and holding a bowl. Most of the people rushing by to their busy jobs dropped coins in his bowl. The monk never once looked up to thank them, but they seemed to be used to that and gave him money anyway. Every day.
However, when I dropped some coins in his bowl and stepped back to take a photograph, he suddenly did look up. He started grinning from ear to ear, as if he met an old friend again.
The whole crowd stopped in amazement. I grinned back, bowed to him and never fully understood what happened. Yet I never forgot this encounter nor the look in his eyes.
That bowl in 2016
This fond memory is in sharp contrast of what happened a few weeks ago. I was invited by a very enthusiastic lady to come and hear about a lady with the new Lyme cure.
I’m always curious, so I went. When I entered the room I saw the usual iMac Air and TV screen, showing the picture of the lady doing the presentation.
“This was me only five years ago, when I was dying of cancer!!! Look at me now.”
Then she went on to talk about some revolutionary technology, made by a real scientist and how the company had evolved into an international business, with annual 120 million USD revenues and even a solid position on the NASDAQ stock market.
“Excuse me, could you help me understand why I am here? I thought I was invited to learn something about something that helps people cure from Lyme? Now I have the impression that I’m being recruited as a salesman”, I asked her.
“Yes, 120 million USD! Great fees. Oh, yes, we also helped six people with Lyme. Really…”
Uuuuhhhhhmmmm….
I thanked her and left the pitch within four minutes. My hostess never contacted me again. I’m sure that she has come to her own conclusion about “who I am” and has firmly embedded that opinion in concrete by now.
Update in 2018
drs. Huib Kraaijeveld
"This book perfectly describes the plight of millions of patients, who suffer from chronic Lyme Disease in many countries all over the world."
Prof. Christian Perronne, France
"This book is a gift of truth and passion to humanity."
Mia Morales, Lyme patient, USA
"I received the book exactly on the day that I had decided to end my life. Huh?! Yep. I am 35 years old years and have been ill for 19 years. Now I know why: Lyme. Everyone should read this book!"
Miranda, the Netherlands
"This book offers a new practical, human centered way of dealing with health information. It is also ringing a bell for the new time how to work together towards health and thriving."
Kim Schimmler, MD, Germany
"This pioneer's work made it perfectly clear that, when "i" becomes "we", even illness becomes wellness."
Frans Vermeulen, journalist, the Netherlands
"In his crucial work on Lyme disease, dedicated social researcher Huib Kraaijeveld does not pretend to have all the answers, but guides us towards asking the upsetting and essential questions."
Prof. Cees Hamelink, professor Communication Sciences & Human Rights, the Netherlands
"This book reads like a thriller! It touched me deeply and I am sure it will change the course of history."
Linda Graanoogst, journalist, the Netherlands
"Well, I am wiping my eyes and blowing my nose, while tears stream down my face. I guess that is a good sign. You hit the nail on the head claiming that Lyme survivors need 'understanding'. I would like my own partner to read this book."
Anodea Judith, PhD & author, USA
"What an awakening perspective! Huib has successfully set a quantum leap for understanding and managing Lyme disease by common people."
John Wong, bestselling author, Singapore
"A true and unpretentious caretakers' guide to understand Lyme. This book will help you to completely understand what your friend is going through; regardless of the symptoms they have. I wish it had been written ten years ago, because it can actually save lives!"
Cheryl Versalle, Lyme patient, USA
"This book actually speaks to people beyond its target audience (caretakers of people with Lyme Disease): people like me who are not travel companions, but to whom it is not hard at all to have or develop understanding and compassion. This makes the reach of this book bigger, much bigger if you’d ask me. I am amazed a book can do all of this!"
Saskia Steur, business blogger, the Netherlands
"This book reads like an exciting novel, were it not that it concerns a deadly serious issue. It calls to contribute and take care of each other and our world. Read, weep, feel and act!"
Manfred van Doorn, leadership expert, the Netherlands
"A creative and very intelligent vision to dive even deeper into the world of Lyme, to look at yourself, other people, but also the entire world around you."
Friend of someone with Lyme
"The book indicates that Lyme disease can be a sexually transmitted disease. This will cause a tidal wave of awareness all over the world. Like the child in the old fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, who exclaimed: 'But the emperor is wearing no clothes!'"
Ola Aniel Petterson, STD campaign leader, Sweden
"What a brilliant sociological work! I am sure it will have much impact."
Professor Neuropathy, Germany
"This book is a big eye opener. Both for friends of people with Lyme disease as well as for people with Lyme. Or for any other health issues, for that matter."
Martin Möhrke, medical research leader, Europe
"I cannot read any other book for more than two minutes now, in this hell called Lyme. Yet yours I cannot stop reading! I should have put it away hours ago to clean the house. But I simply cannot stop."
Ineke, wife of a husband with Lyme, the Netherlands
"This book is a delight to read. It offers soft candlelight and warm campfire camaraderie on an often dark and lonely journey."
Laura Bruno, medical intuitive Lyme expert, USA
"A very honest and yet witty way of helping those with Lyme disease. This book is full of ideas on how to help your friend with Lyme, as a travel companion on this crazy journey called 'Lyme'."
Lisa Hilton, Lyme advocate, USA
"Both the personal experiences as well as the author’s sharp mind turn this into an incredibly inspiring book that raises the consciousness of its readers."
Kara, ex Crohn disease patient, the Netherlands
"Tempting, informative and eminently readable! Shifting the Lyme Paradigm is an absolute eye-opener for those who are not aware of what the journey of Lyme disease entails."
Terri Mackinnon-Cross, CEO WorldLymeDay.com, Canada
"This book gave us the recognition and acknowledgment, which were like a band-aid on an open wound."
Sara, Lyme patient, Belgium
"Very insistently written based on intensive, almost existential, personal experiences, this book also gives a clear overview of all relevant information for both patients and caretakers."
Jan Eendebak, former chairman Lyme Foundation STZ, the Netherlands
"A relief to read, written by an expert who shares his dedication to his own path with us, and brilliantly written."
Muna, mother of a daughter with chronic Lyme, the Netherlands
"Playful, frightening, informative and encouraging."
Merel, kinesiologist, the Netherlands
"This book made me realize that there is too little known behind the phenomenon Lyme. In a challenging manner the author provides understanding of Lyme disease and suggestions for tackling this disease. I have 'prescribed' this book to many of my patients and mostly astonishment was soon followed by recognition. An absolute must for anyone with (still) unexplained symptoms or the people close around them."
Duco Kanij, osteopath, the Netherlands
"This book guides you through the labyrinth of Lyme swiftly, while it took us YEARS to even get this far."
Eugenie van der Linden, ex-Lyme patient and therapist, the Netherlands
"This book is an absolute 'must read' for everyone! For patients, for family and friends, and for doctors who can finally learn that Lyme is more than what is written in their textbooks and that they should not be able to dismiss "unexplained" complaints as psychological too quickly!"
Anne Fierlafijn, MD, Belgium
"Shifting the Paradigm of Lyme is not like any other book on Lyme that I have read. It appeals to a higher consciousness, and is analytical in an introspective way that is pleasant to read. This book is a friendly and warm reminder that no Lyme patient is ever alone."
Thomas Grier, biologist, USA
"This book show how caring friends can intervene to provide succor and alliance ‘against the odds’ of a potentially serious and very complex illness that is still poorly understood by mankind."
Kenneth Liegner, MD, USA
