music, therapy, and me

The best thing about being on vacation for a long period of time is that I start to get new ideas and start feeling the itch to be back where I have all my stuff around me to accomplish those new ideas. (Does that make sense?? I am still jet-lagged and exhausted - Mom and I went to bed around 7pm last night.) I am getting to that point now, but I still have a week at my destination, so I have to write things down and defer them until later. A friend and I did some peer supervision on Saturday, and she mentioned that she was introducing the concept of instrument families to her clients. That started my brain, and now I am designing an instrument family edition of sing about songs . I could start the visuals here - I think all of the instrument clip art is in my cloud - and will probably end up doing that this week. I have all sorts of Zoom things happening this week - an interview, an I/DD support meeting, another for a discussion about music therapy influences and mentors. I have alrea...

I can tell you, I love the quiet. I have not turned on a television for over a week now, and the lack of commercials and noise has been wonderful. I have streamed some content, but I have not touched the television remote at all. I am enjoying a bit of quiet. This is not sustainable, and I know that, but I am enjoying it all the same. When I am at my mother's house, we watch what she wants to watch. If I want to be near her, then I have to watch Hudson and Rex , and All Creatures Great and Small  (not my thing AT ALL), and Blue Skies , and all sorts of shows that I do not have access to in my streaming world. So, I tend to watch my Netflix dramas upstairs in the sauna room with western light access where it has not dipped below 75 and tends to remain around 80 degrees all the time. Not that I'm complaining (but I really am!). I find that silence is what I need to refresh my creativity and my need for music. When I am constantly surrounded by noise (even noise selected by me and...

Thursday has come around again. I am packing up my clothing and all my stuff from this trip because we leave tomorrow. It has been a good trip - lots of socializing and still more to go before we are finished. It is not over for me. There are more things to do in our next destination. Being away from my home and being in several different places has been good for me. I have had lots of time to think about various options for my life. I have an ultimate destination in mind for where I want to be. What I want to do is forming in my brain. I am trying to figure out how to find money to do these things. Right now, I am tempted to play the lottery to find funding for my dreams, but I know that I need to find something a bit more realistic. By the way, does anyone want to give me money?? I will take it! (Tongue firmly in my cheek right now!) Having this time to think has been good for me. I have been able to talk over plans with people who love me and who have absolutely no interest in my di...

I am spending this week with my mother and her best friend. They have known each other since they were 3, and since they are in their early 80's now, they have decades upon decades of friendship to go through. Aunt Mary has not lived near my mother since they were 18, but it takes no time at all for them to fall back into old routines, Girl Scout songs, "remember this?" discussions, and inside jokes. We came on this trip so Mom and Aunt Mary could see each other again. Mom is in the season of life where her friends are disappearing into their mortality or into memory care facilities. She is losing them and does not know how to get back into touch with many of her friends from high school and college. Aunt Mary is not one of those friends, but her husband passed away this year. It was important for us to see her rather than just relying on emails.  So, Mom and I arrived early on Monday morning and have been spending the days with Aunt Mary. I leave after dinner and head to...

Good morning, all, from a quiet-ish hotel room where I spent the night away from my mother and her best friend. We flew to the East coast on Sunday, drove to her friend's house yesterday, and will be going to the lake house to visit one of her stepkids today. Tomorrow will be some shopping and then we will go to a church service at her community facility. After we finish the trip, we will head out to visit my aunt and uncle before heading back to the West coast. I will stay for another week and then start the journey back to my home to figure out what I am going to do about money. In the midst of all of these plans, I have been offered a job interview for a position out west, so there are lots of things happening out here... Right now, I need to take a shower, go down and eat breakfast, and then prepare myself for yet another trip performance. It is interesting how much energy it takes to travel, but I do enjoy it. Seeing "Aunt Mary" has been good for Mom and for me. She ...

On the Road Again - as performed by Willie Nelson - is on my mind this morning. Mom and I are jetting off to the East coast for a visit with my Mom's best friend and to see my Aunt and Uncle. I have checked us in for our flights, arranged for the car pick-up, and found our hotels. Now all we have left to do is go. The cat has been coming to sleep on my plastic folder that is full of notebook paper and thoughts. He doesn't usually come to share this space because it used to be my brother's room, and my brother did not like his cat coming into the room. I love having the cat come visit, so we are healing some kitty trauma by encouraging him to sleep here. We are going to be on the road for a bit, and the song just keeps going in my mind. So, what do you think I am going to do? Well, I am going to make this into a therapeutic music experience, of course! On the Road Again was written and performed by Willie Nelson. The song was released in 1980 (I thought it was earlier than t...