Six Things to Do With...

I have an arbitrary rule for myself and my storage space. It is not something that I based on anything other than my tendency to collect things and head towards hoarding, ESPECIALLY with music things, but it has been handy in the 27 years that I've been a professional music therapist.

Six things to do before buying/keeping/storing.

Simply put, this means that I have to come up with six goals or therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) in which I use the material in order to keep it in my storage space. Since this is my guideline, I strive to make things that can be used in many different ways so I can justify keeping them.

Here's how this goes...

1. I see something new, and I start to think - "Can I afford this?" "Do I want it because I just want it?" "Can I think of six things to do with this thing to justify buying it?" The questions start to come fast and furious...
2. What is it? Would it be something I could use in my current music therapy job? (If the answer is no, then I have to go into a personal decision tree, but if the answer is yes, then I continue here...)
3. How do we use this thing? Does it fit any of my current clients' goals?
4. What songs/TMEs/activities comes to mind when I look at this thing?
5. Can I find six different things to do??

If I can, then I keep the thing. If not, then I put it back and walk away. (The problem?? I can usually find six things to do pretty quickly, so I often justify my purchases.)

The last part of all of this is going through materials every once in a while to see if I can still come up with six things that I have done with these materials in the music therapy clinic to see if I can still justify the storage space. This is the part that I struggle with, well, pretty much ALL the time!