Trust the process.
How did I end up in Sandpoint, Idaho?
In high school 20 years ago, my high school sweetheart Josh and I said we were going to move to Idaho. For two years, we talked about this was our ultimate destiny to spend our lives there. Well, in 2005 with a turn of events, we ended up breaking up and he still moved up to Idaho and I ended up staying behind. I had never seen Idaho so I didn’t know what I was missing, nor did I plan to follow him post break up.
In 2011 his parents contacted me and wanted me to come out and visit so in November 2011 I flew out to go and see them in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The first thing that we did was took a walk around the lake and went to an Eagles nest. Underneath the Eagles nest was an entire torn off Osprey wing. My business that year was making feather jewelry from birdwatching so I took that entire Osprey wing and clipped off each and every feather and sterilized them. I still have the feathers of that wing safely preserved
After our walk, the main place that they wanted to take me to was a town called Sandpoint. We drove to Sandpoint that day and went to the Main Street for shopping and strolling. There was a little Swedish shop that had handmade Swedish things for sale inside, and my mother’s family is from Sweden. I took one look at the welcome sign and it was “Volkommen” similar to my family’s last name “Volkman”. I bought a sign for my mother’s front door and grandmothers front door that day in Sandpoint. For 6 years they had that sign on their front doors.
In 2015 I started Acupuncture school, but had to miss my orientation week due to a vacation in Idaho that was planned with family. I took archery lessons instead of attending orientation and learned a mantra that stuck with me everyday through acupuncture school: “where you look is where you aim”.
In 2018, after graduating I became friends with my best friend Kaitlyn. Her Instagram handle had 444 in it and that was a number that I kept getting as a sign. When I looked up the meaning it said that when loved ones pass on, they will send you 444 to let you know angels are watching over you. My grandmother passed away in April 2018, and Kaitlyn’s grandmother passed in February 2018. We both noticed the numbers 444 and knew it was from our grandmothers and ancestors. In December 2018, within two weeks of each other we had both passed our board exams for acupuncture and I messaged her to ask if she had a room to start practicing out of because I was looking for someone to share my office with. 444 is what brought us together, and it was like being reunited with a long lost sister. As I got to know her, she told me most of her family lived in Sandpoint. Of all the places in the world I had heard of, I have been to this small town in Idaho where my family’s welcome sign had come from.
In 2019 Kaitlyn and I launched our business “Gem & Tonic”, Kaitlin as the “Gem” from the gem state and me as the “Tonic” herbal queen and we always mentioned one day we could open in the Gem state of Idaho when we expanded.
In 2022, Kaitlin decided she wanted to host me at her mother’s house for her birthday up in Sandpoint, so we flew there and spent the weekend on the river. I fell in love with the idea of living in Idaho and at the time my husband and I were in therapy three times a week to discuss if we were going to separate or continue our relationship. After my Idaho trip, I returned to say “well, I’m gonna be living in Idaho! I don’t know what you want to do.” We separated the following month.
I decided I wasn’t quite ready to leave California just yet because I still wanted to engage in more education and influence over the Southern California region before making a big move out of state.
I decided to close Gem & Tonic in San Diego, and take time off. I sold my gold couch to a family in November 2022. It was my favorite piece of furniture and I never imagined letting go of it, but I didn’t have the space to store it. (We’ll come back to this later)
In 2024 we went up to the river house in Idaho for Kaitlyn‘s birthday again and I felt the calling to the land. Kaitlyn‘s mother and stepfather had invited over the town Chiropractor for a boat trip and we were sitting around the fire discussing business in Idaho. He had mentioned he had a room available for rent casually and that if we wanted to move up to Idaho, that could be an option.
In November 2024, My tarot card reader told me I would be in the mountains and not to try getting settled into the city because I would move and host retreats and fulfill my mission of worldwide healing.
Six months later, January 7, 2025, I called Dr. Josh and asked if he still had that room available for rent and… he did! He said he’d be willing to hold it for me.
The palisades fires had started near my office that day and I drove through the apocalyptic clouds to get out of the city and to Coronado to be with family for my birthday while I sat with the idea of moving out of state.
Two days later, on my birthday, January 9th, I got a message from the man who had bought my gold couch from me with his family. He wished me happy birthday through Facebook and happened to mention he was in Coronado and had just bought a house in Sandpoint Idaho. I was in shock, I had just gotten to Coronado and I made the decision to move to Sandpoint. This was the defining moment of knowing I was meant to go there, no matter what place in the world called to me (moving back to Hawaii, San Diego, or to another country) this was the message that told me to get there at all costs. His wife was from Sandpoint and he was getting out of the military to pursue raising his family there.
Why- out of nowhere did this man decide to message me to tell me happy birthday, and say he bought a house in Sandpoint? We had never discussed Idaho, or Coronado before. That is when I knew this was the best decision to make.
I found that in the five months after getting this message to go all in and move to Sandpoint, I had gotten invitations to live and work in San Diego and Hawaii, but made my abilities to inconvenient within 24 hours to change the plan. I trusted that the universe had something incredible in store for me waiting there in Idaho because the path was smooth.
Six months later, on June 1, 2025 I opened my office in Sandpoint Chiropractic.
Little did I know that 20 years ago I would in fact be living in Idaho as a Doctor, ready to heal the world, broadcasting education from a cottage in the woods, and offering healing sessions to the local people. From Joshua, my high school sweetheart, to Dr. Josh, the Sandpoint Chiropractor, I have come full circle in realizing my destiny is to be here of all places in the world. I found my wings in Idaho at the base of an eagles nest, and my welcome sign in the heart of town.
Thank you Sandpoint for the warm welcome, I look forward to bringing my gifts of health and wisdom to this community for a lifetime.
Dr. Heidi Keating
