Thoughtful Thursday: The Written Word
My mother writes me a letter every week. She has written me a letter for every week that I have lived away from her house. I have them all.
The letters aren't deep or anything - they give me a glimpse of what Mom is thinking and doing. When she was writing to her mother and my brother as well, there were times when she would forget to remove the paragraph about what she thought I was doing with my life, and I would see those paragraphs. It was always interesting to see what she thought I was doing with my life.
My grandmother passed away almost two years ago, and my brother recently moved back to the area, so Mom is stuck writing only to me and my Aunt. There's a bit less information about my life these days, but I still enjoy getting the envelopes every week.
Several months ago, my mother mentioned that she misses getting letters from her mother. I've started writing to her every week.
I combine my love of making things with my letters to Mom. I make two cards every week, and I send one of them to my mother with information about what actually goes on in my life (rather than the snippets of information that my Dad reveals). The other card goes into my card stash for when I need a card for a special occasion.
Every so often, I go to my letter box and pull out one of my mother's letters at random. Reading that letter is a bit like a time machine that takes me back to the situations that we've lived through - the good stuff and the not-so-good stuff.
That's the power of the written word, I think.
The minutiae of everyday life is interesting. It fascinates me. I want to know what my mom ate for breakfast and what she's thinking about. I want to know what other music therapists sing when they want their clients to change their attention. I want to know what the daily routines of others look like - this is a way to see how my life is similar or dissimilar to others.
This may be the primary reason that I write this blog. I offer an opportunity for others to see into my life - the good, the bad, and the day-to-day minutiae. I figure that my ideas aren't always the best, but if I share them with someone other than me, those ideas change and grow and develop beyond what I can imagine.
I first started writing this blog because I liked the idea of an online diary. No one read it but me. I wrote what I could about everything music therapy in my life. I wrote about finding ideas, bad sessions, music therapy philosophy thoughts, and my day-to-day life as both me and me as music therapist. Then, people started reading what I was writing.
That first view startled and shocked me. The written word was no longer mine alone.
I encourage you to start a blog of your own. Send me a link, and I'll read it. I probably won't comment, but I'll read what you write and it will change my ideas about what we do.
The letters aren't deep or anything - they give me a glimpse of what Mom is thinking and doing. When she was writing to her mother and my brother as well, there were times when she would forget to remove the paragraph about what she thought I was doing with my life, and I would see those paragraphs. It was always interesting to see what she thought I was doing with my life.
My grandmother passed away almost two years ago, and my brother recently moved back to the area, so Mom is stuck writing only to me and my Aunt. There's a bit less information about my life these days, but I still enjoy getting the envelopes every week.
Several months ago, my mother mentioned that she misses getting letters from her mother. I've started writing to her every week.
I combine my love of making things with my letters to Mom. I make two cards every week, and I send one of them to my mother with information about what actually goes on in my life (rather than the snippets of information that my Dad reveals). The other card goes into my card stash for when I need a card for a special occasion.
Every so often, I go to my letter box and pull out one of my mother's letters at random. Reading that letter is a bit like a time machine that takes me back to the situations that we've lived through - the good stuff and the not-so-good stuff.
That's the power of the written word, I think.
The minutiae of everyday life is interesting. It fascinates me. I want to know what my mom ate for breakfast and what she's thinking about. I want to know what other music therapists sing when they want their clients to change their attention. I want to know what the daily routines of others look like - this is a way to see how my life is similar or dissimilar to others.
This may be the primary reason that I write this blog. I offer an opportunity for others to see into my life - the good, the bad, and the day-to-day minutiae. I figure that my ideas aren't always the best, but if I share them with someone other than me, those ideas change and grow and develop beyond what I can imagine.
I first started writing this blog because I liked the idea of an online diary. No one read it but me. I wrote what I could about everything music therapy in my life. I wrote about finding ideas, bad sessions, music therapy philosophy thoughts, and my day-to-day life as both me and me as music therapist. Then, people started reading what I was writing.
That first view startled and shocked me. The written word was no longer mine alone.
I encourage you to start a blog of your own. Send me a link, and I'll read it. I probably won't comment, but I'll read what you write and it will change my ideas about what we do.
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