The End of 2014

It's time for some nostalgia. After all, it is the end of the year, a time when most of us reflect on what has happened and what may happen in the next year.

This year has been an interesting one.

My year started with two interns - one familiar and one brand new. We spent most of the year crammed into a couple of closets for storage doing cart-based music therapy for students spread out in three different buildings. We weren't really able to do lots of individual treatment since the only treatment space we had was the hallway. It's difficult to focus when people are walking through your treatment area constantly. The year progressed into FINALLY moving into a really small treatment space, but it is dedicated to music therapy and music therapy only (for the moment, at least!). It is nice to be able to state that I have a treatment area. My colleague, the art therapist, still cannot make those statements.

The year ended with my last (for at least a time) intern, Intern #23. She had the joy of moving all of my stuff several times into several different locations. She had the opportunity to do both itinerant and clinic-based music therapy treatment. That was a good thing. She is the last one that I'll have for some time as I am going to place my internship program on inactive status next week.

I've been reasonably healthy this year - what a significant change over 2013! I did have one more episode of my infection - turns out that most of my health issues over the past several years were linked to the water I drank at work. Strange, hunh? I no longer drink the water, and the problem has not returned. It's amazing how something so small can loom so large in a person's existence.

Professionally, I feel that I have settled into a pattern that is comfortable but not challenging. That is one reason why the internship is going on inactive status. I need to be "therapist" for a time rather than "supervisor." My plan for 2015 is to shake myself up professionally.

It's time to practice what I preach to interns during my Marketing Yourself webinar. Update the resume. Start spreadsheets for different types of job applications. Put yourself out there. Be open to different ideas and experiences. Feel comfortable pushing your own limits. Look past boundaries. There you go. Challenges for the new year coming.

What will challenge you this year? What do you think will be in store for you in 2015?

Happy New Year, world!

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