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Just a Song Sunday: It is Time to Play the Music

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This title has two meanings for me right now. First of all, the phrase comes from The Muppet Show Theme , and the Muppets are one of my favorite groups of things in all the world (second only to Star Wars , I think). Secondly, this is something I need to be doing. There has been a severe lack of music making in my life recently, and I am itching to be back in some capacity where I can make music with others. The song itself, The Muppet Show Theme , is a good one for thinking about friends and about being together with some sort of common goal. It brings back good memories for me as I was around during the first run of the show back in the late 1970's, and we watched it almost religiously. It was one of the few television shows that we were allowed to watch - this and anything put out by Disney - so it made an impression. I have all the episodes on DVD now, and it is amazing how many of the clips and skits could be used in music therapy sessions. I was being groomed to be a music th...
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Saturday: Reminder that Music Therapists DON'T Unite

I was reminded why I left the group, Music Therapists Unite, several years ago this week. A post was made that ruffled feathers in all sorts of ways, and the discourse became quite nasty towards some of the posters. Looking at the post was enough to turn me away from the group again, but I need to be there to advertise different events, so I am still seeing posts.  I wonder why some of us feel the need to denigrate other music therapists based on opinions and expectations. For some, it seems that the entire reason for living is to make others see things their way and become disciples of "THE RIGHT WAY TO DO MUSIC THERAPY!" There are specific voices that come out stridently and insistently to correct the behavior of others in ways that are based in personal opinion rather than fact. This was my problem with this group to begin with, and it is now back. That's it for today...just a mini rant about how we do not unite as a profession, and most of the division appears to be f...
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Fun Friday: Clearing Space

I am getting ready for a home invasion - of sorts. The heating guy is coming to tune up my furnace before it is needed. This is a good service, and one that I really need. I planned it, so it is not a surprise, but still, it requires planning on my part. The biggest problem about all of this is that I have to be "on-call" until they fit me into their schedule. That makes me sit here, going through nervous work until they arrive. It is not the best situation to be in for me and my nervous system. In addition, I had to change my debit card, so this company has been calling and sending texts letting me know that the card that they have on file is no longer working. Each call and text just sends my nervous system into overload. On the other hand, I have cut down a whole bunch of cardboard to use for making books this fall. I have moved things around downstairs to accommodate someone clomping around my space that does not know where to step, and I have moved some things from the o...
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Thoughtful Thursday: Why Is It So Difficult to Find the Music Therapist or Music Therapy Job That You Want When You Want It??

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Let's face it... There is a HUGE disconnect between the number of music therapists out there and the number of available jobs. Every single day, I see posts both from music therapists who cannot find a job and music therapy business owners who are desperate to find music therapists to work. Every single day. I pay attention to these discussions, posts, and comments because music therapist attrition is something that has always interested me. I have often wondered why our profession continues to be so young and inexperienced, and I have collected many answers from therapists who have remained in the profession as well as those who have left. There is no simple answer to the question of why are there so many open music therapy positions and so many music therapists who leave the profession because they can't find jobs. Not everyone is able to or wants to move where the jobs are. Not everyone can sustain their desired quality of life on a therapist's salary. Not everyone wants...
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Wednesday Woes

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Here I am, sitting in my cool house and complaining about things. It is time for a RANT, people, and here we go! (If you are new here, there are times when I just start writing whatever I can and all the things that I am thinking, feeling, and trying to figure out. Today seems to be one of those days, so here it goes...) I am tired. I am crabby. I am time-zone lagged, and it is showing in my patterns and routines. I am not going to sleep when I usually sleep, and I am waking up groggy and cranky. I blame this on my recent travels and the lack of rest that I got when driving and flying and driving again. I will try to nap today, but thoughts about what I "should" be doing keep me from resting - there's that SHOULDA goblin again... I have not been to the library since I took out a bunch of books that I did not read. I overestimated my interest in reading before my trip, so I had books that I did not even open. I now have so many books to read that I really cannot justify an...
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Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Forgive me as I take one more day away from my scheduled themes to finish up my break chronicles and start getting back into a routine. It has been a long month, but I am back at my home right now and am thinking about the future very seriously. I drove 1,500 miles between Sunday morning and yesterday afternoon. I arrived at my home around 4:30pm after driving to Tucumcari, New Mexico on Sunday. I enjoy driving, and this trip was bittersweet because I think I will be making only one more of these trips, and it should be one-way. The trek from the Midwest to California on Interstate 40 is one that every person should make at least once in their lives. The scenery and history that is involved is absolutely mind-boggling, and the trip is pretty easy on the interstate. I enjoy seeing the scenery changes and experiencing different times of the day and the sunshine in the different regions of this country. Today's primary goal is to clear out the car. I have lots of electronic things and...
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'Tis the End: A Song I Should Write

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I am leaving home - probably for the last time - to travel across our country via car. I have significantly more stuff in my car than I did when I traveled towards this destination, and that is making me laugh. I have about five new toy xylophones to add to my collection of toy xylophones. I have a bag and a box of turn of the 20th century antique sheet music. I bought a cookbook, two books on lettering styles, and lots of fiction to add to my collection. My sister and my mother (AKA my enablers) gifted me with a set of colorful Lummi sticks (think smooth rhythm sticks that people use to make rhythmic patterns including tossing to one another. I am taking home all of my father's Echo dots (they creep my family out), a speaker set that I gifted to him before he died (never opened and made him cry), his robot vacuum (which also creeps Mom out but that I think she would love if she actually tried it), a new laptop (which my business bought when my Chromebook gave up the ghost), all so...
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