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Doing Something New (ish)

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Oh, no, here I go again, trying to find something new to keep my brain going and not atrophying from lack of use. As the reality of moving from full-time employment to something else entirely is getting closer to actually happening (lots of discussions with different people about this topic this week and more to come). I alternate between panic and excitement, anticipation and absolute terror, and all the other emotions as I think about what will happen on July 1. Meanwhile, I still have three months and a week to go before this becomes a reality. In the meantime, I am getting ready to release a new thing via my website (ugh, the website needs SO much work - put it on the list!). For a long time, I have wanted to put together a subscription box - themed or goal-based - for music therapists. About the time I wanted to start this up, I found a company who was doing just that, so I did not pursue the idea further and just subscribed to Music Therapy Mailings. They have since discontinued ...
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The End of My Last Spring Break (At Least, For Now)...

I have not written much lately. No reasons why, just not really in the mood to sit and write about music, therapy, or me in the past week or so. What I have been doing instead is reading books - all sorts of mindless books that just keep my brain occupied but do not really add too much to my knowledge. I will go to the library today because I am at the end of my most recent book. It is a good time to introduce new reading materials into my environment. Lately, I have been watching lots of book journaling content creators. I am not interested in making my own book journal (too much like the book reports that I hated all through school), but I enjoy watching people decorate theirs. I am also making some book journals, but I will not be using them. I find the book journal videos to be simultaneously pretty and ridiculous, but I am drawn to them over and over again. I wonder if I would be more inclined to read music therapy journal articles or texts if I was more into book journaling - mak...
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Hiatus - Resting - Letting Things Go

I missed a meeting yesterday, and that is the worst thing I can do for my well-being and peace of mind. I hate when that happens. I hate it when my brain just forgets things and don't do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. What a great way to start off this break! I have two appointments today - one to get the dishwasher fixed (hopefully it will actually get fixed today) and one for my medical health. I am just trying my best to get from one thing to the next this week. It won't be an actual break away from obligations. Tomorrow's appointment is with my financial advisor - I have to figure out how I am going to survive come July.  Argh. I am frustrated by myself and my lack of remembering the meeting that I had scheduled.
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5:03 AM - This is Not What I Want From Life

I dragged my body out of bed this morning at 4:15 am because it has to be done. I have to get into a routine of getting up and getting going during these early morning hours for this week before a week where I do not have to be up this early. I think that this is cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, this is a week with a 12-hour day in it, so that means late night medication, medication side effects, and late arrival at work for a kid-day the next day. There is so much that is wrong with this week, but it all starts with the time change. I woke up with an actual aural alarm this morning. This is unusual for me. Music in my environment tends to be startling, so I use a light to help me get up. I am usually awake before the light turns on, but not always. The change in the light environment helps me wake up. I think my father is responsible for this. He used to tell me it was time to get up by turning on my bedroom light when I was younger. As much as I pleaded that he turn on the ...
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Time Change - WHY????

This is one of my least favorite days of the year - the day where we spring forward and mess with time. I don't understand it, the number of hours of daylight do not change at all, it doesn't help the farmers, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to continue to go through this process of changing time, but it continues. I am tired already, and it has only been one morning. Ugh. 
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Finding Your "Why" Again and Again and Again

I am in the middle of the World Music in the Classroom Summit and also had a peer supervision session with a fellow music therapist earlier today, and I am finding some inspiration for my blog post a bit later than usual today. In the 11 minutes between sessions, I will try to put some of my ideas down here. One of the things that has struck me as I am watching music educators talk about their musical passions is that my own change significantly based on day, hour, and minute. Not to mention the changes that have happened over the weeks, months, years, and decades of being a professional music therapist. It is often interesting to look back on the things that I found interesting back when I was brand new and compare them to the things that I find interesting now. I think about this as finding my "why." Why do I enjoy my job? Why do I enjoy being a music therapist? Why do I engage in continuing education topics? Why do I want to do things like content creation and information ...
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A Professional Day...and Some Continuing Education This Weekend

Yesterday, as I was scrolling my Instagram feed, I found a notification about an education summit all about global music that is starting this afternoon and will go until Sunday. I signed up, and I am getting ready for this conference with a professional development day. I bought Mexican food for this time, and I am now getting ready to uncover my notebook for continuing education and settle into my computer area to watch things unfold. (See yesterday's post for the link to the conference!) To prepare for this conference (which is NOT a music therapy conference but that works with one of my interests as a music therapist and content creator), I am not doing anything all that specific or taxing. I am resting this morning so I will be ready for the information overload that will be happening later on today. From 10-5 my time for the next two days, I will be listening to ways to bring in more world music into my music therapy sessions.  I am looking forward to this. Elementary music e...
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