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New Book Day!! New Book Day!! New Book Day!!

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(Can you tell that this event excites me EVERY SINGLE TIME it happens??) Today is the first day that I will be officially using my new work bullet journal. If you read this blog regularly, then you know that I am a paper planner and scheduler type of music therapist. I sit down every morning (even most weekend days) to write down my tasks and prioritize what I need to do. I use it to capture my thoughts and sort through situations that happen to me. My book is part of my brain and this is important to know as I talk about how I use this as an essential part of my structure. It is my system, and this system makes things happen for me. Now, I do not use any one type of organization system in my books. There are many ways to plan, to track, to use a book similar to mine, and I choose to use my own system. For this, I make my own layouts and spreads to help me do what I need to do. If you are interested in some of the systems that others have developed for their use that I have used from t...
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Fun Friday: Another Dream Coming Up!!

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SQUEEEEE! So, I am getting chances to do things that I have never really thought I could do these days. I have been approved to run two ongoing music therapy continuing education opportunities, and I am excited about it all!  The first is a course on Composition and Creativity . It is a self-study course that encourages creativity for music therapists - something that I really love to encourage. Participants can select how many modules they want - either one or up to ten modules at our set price per CMTE - $10.00 per CMTE earned. This course includes topics including composition, budget-minded materials, and avoiding burnout. Lots of choices and options are available, and I get to add new topics when appropriate for me and for other music therapists. I am hoping that I can get some folks interested in taking this course and offering some feedback. This has been a course that I have developed over many years, and it is something that I wish I could take! The second CMTE opportunity ...
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Stimulating the Brain Cells - One By One

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My brain is fried. I have been using this phrase lots lately as I seem to be in a slump of some sort - creative, writing, thinking critically type of slump. I had a job offer for a job that I decided I didn't want, and the guilt of turning them down is wearing on me. I have no clear idea what day it is from moment to moment, and I keep trying to make it be Friday instead of Thursday. Lots is going on but is still not going on. I have another interview on Monday for a job outside my usual category but adjacent to my preferred population. The job I turned down was with my preferred population but required things that I no longer want to do with my life, so after some agonizing nights, I finally decided that I needed to just release myself and them from the expectation that I would take the job. I didn't fancy the idea of working full-time in the residences just so I could afford healthcare. That is a difficult job and one that I am not sure I can do these days. So, I let them kno...
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TME Tuesday: My Compendium

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Right now, I am going through my therapeutic music experience compendium to find songs and TMEs to go with a specific theme. It is always an interesting experience to dive into the ideas that I have collected over the years. I do not have all of the ideas that I have been exposed to by being around other music therapists in digital form right now, but I do have all of the other ideas in paper form from my first interns before the time when everyone had a computer in their pockets. I have thousands of therapeutic music experiences (TMEs - my preferred theme for what I do in sessions with my clients) in my database (which I like to call my compendium!). Many of them are mine in origin, but many of them are original works of other people. Those do not go into any of my publications because they are not my work - they belong to others. I've had compositions stolen by other music therapists claiming that they composed the songs that I wrote, so I do not do that to others. Those ideas ca...
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Just a Song Sunday: Finding Joy in Different Places

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If you read my posts regularly, then you know that I am enjoying watching Korean television shows, both with English dubbing and with Korean dialogue and subtitles. I keep many of these shows on my streaming lists, and they are just fun. I find that I am not really able to do other things when I am reading subtitles, so it is difficult to read a book or make things with paper while I am watching, but I am still enjoying all of it! One of the things that I really enjoy about watching Korean shows is the music that comes along with them. Most of the time, the lyrics are in Korean so I cannot understand what they are saying, but I am learning some words slowly. It is amazing how much you can glean from just watching television shows. My current show is one I will watch again. It is called Hello, Me! and it will join the list of shows that I love including My Holo Love, Castaway Diva, Behind Your Touch, and many others. The more I watch the shows, the more I get the nuances of the language...
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Sitting Down to Blog

This morning, I sat down to start my blog post, and the power went off. It was only a momentary flicker, but it was enough to reset everything electronic in the house including the computer, the wi-fi, the wired internet, and some of the clocks. Once the electricity came back on, everything started to beep - the vacuum, the ... and now, the sister has called so another interruption for the thought process. I think I should take this as a sign that this is not going to happen today, so I'm signing off until tomorrow... See you soon. 
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Fun Friday: Getting Out

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Yesterday's sleep was not a good one. I am sitting here, wondering what is going on with my body, but I have an appointment today that is causing stress in my life. The moon looked full at 2am, but it isn't. That won't happen until Monday, but I am feeling it now.  I am hopeful about the appointment for today. It is something that is going to be stressful, but in a good way. My biggest problem is that I cannot make a decision until things happen next week. I am in information-gathering mode, so it is time to figure out what I want next. It is nice to have some options. So, my fun on this Friday is going to include learning a bit and thinking deeply about things.  Last night, I spoke to my current intern group about professional behavior and initiative. I always enjoy talking about various topics with interns, mine in the recent past, and others who show up for the hours and the lectures and the conversations. I often wonder if they hear what I am saying, but this group will...
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