Post-Conference Synthesis and Goal-Setting

Conference is over, and I am back at home, getting my arm licked by the cat and trying to figure out what to do next. I have one more day to rest before heading back to work and into the world of a music therapy clinician. Today is a day for planning, reflection, and setting new goals for myself and for my profession.

Ah. Just got the first "welcome home" bite on the arm. I am truly home.

ANYWAY...

The trip to and from Sandusky, Ohio was uneventful as far as driving was concerned. I drive there and back - a total of 25 hours in the car, listening to movies and music, talking to myself, working out problems, trying my best to pay attention to what was going on around me, and just generally contemplating what was happening in the bigger world. I wasn't able to solve anything, but I did get some insight into things happening with my family and with my ideas about my role in the greater world.

So, after five days at conference, what did I learn?

I learned that people are interested in what I have to say - whether it be about being a research-informed clinician or about creativity. I have to get more organized in my home life. I am not always using the resources that I have available to me. I want to step up my sharing of those resources with others. To that end, I am going to need to organize my life in a way that makes things a bit more accessible to me as I need them. I also want to get out there more often - in person as well as through social media. I am working on that aspect of my life and business.

I also was reminded of things that I've known for many years but needed to be reminded of at this point in my career. Music is powerful.

It is time to bask in this supermoon and use the energy to arrange different aspects of my life. Have a wonderful day, all. I'm going back to sleep!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sing A Song Sunday - The Time Change Song (Fall)

It's the time of year where most of us here in the states get to fall back one hour. This is a wonderful time as it gives us a chance to get an extra hour of sleep and to reset our internal clocks to be in sync with the earth's rotation a bit more than we are during the summer. I love this time of year and really dread moving to Daylight Savings in the Spring. Today' song is directed towards choir members and can be found here . There is also a spring version, and I'm sure I'll post a link to that one next year when we [shudder] spring forward yet again... Here is a YouTube video of a guy singing the song. I'm so very sorry for the pitch, but at least he's out there trying his best. Yipes. Anyway, the song itself is based on a hymn composed in 1907 by John Hughes. The words are by Dean McIntyre and were written in 1995. I find the song a bit tongue-in-cheek, but they give me a giggle every time I read them, so enjoy!! Sorry for the lack of diagram
Read more

Being An Internship Director: Why I Do Very Little Active Recruitment

Image
I am not someone who participates in every single internship fair or makes ads for my internship program to put on social media. I do not feel an obligation to anyone to fill all of the openings that I have every year. I operate on a "if you build it, they will come" type of viewpoint. I figure that the interns who are meant to be with me will find me. As a result, I do very little active recruitment. I will be part of the AMTAS Virtual Internship Fair this upcoming Sunday. I am not really expecting too many applications coming from this meeting, but I am interested in how it is going to be run. I decided to sign up because I want to see what others are doing and offering out there. So, this Sunday, I will be sitting in front of my computer, listening to what others share about their internships. One of the things that I like about being a National Roster Internship Director is that I have the ability to decide how many interns and when those interns work with me. I occasiona
Read more

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea
Read more