Darkness
It is the end of Daylight Savings Time and things are just plain old dark around here these days. As you know from one of my MANY rants about this, I do not understand why we change our time, but this post will not continue down that path. Today, I am going to muse about the things that I like to attribute to the descent of darkness.
Any time we monkey around with the time, my pet, my clients, and my own functioning level change. This week was just plain old strange. Clients did not respond to music therapy the way they usually do - it was just plain old strange. The cat has no problem waking me up at 3:45, exactly one hour earlier than I now need to be awake. She hasn't really understood that it is fine to stay in bed an extra hour. I slipped and fell AGAIN on Monday after school which I blame on the fact that it was actually "home" time instead of "work" time. I was exhausted and fell in a hole. Ugh.
I am a person who enjoys a good night's sleep. I have always been a "sun-downer." If you are not familiar with the concept, it is a phenomenon where persons with advanced stage dementia have significant behavior changes when the sun goes down. Most of my family gets sleepy when the sun goes down whether it's 9pm or 4pm. It's ridiculous, but when the sun goes down, we want to sleep. Fortunately, most of us are also morning people, so we awaken early and can function well in the early morning hours. I'm fine with morning darkness after a good night's sleep.
So, now I have lots of energy during the morning sessions and less and less as the day moves on. Fortunately, I know this about myself, and I schedule my sessions for more ams than pms. My art therapy colleague is just the opposite. She is a late night person and gets her energy later in the day. She schedules most of her sessions for the afternoons, so everything works out between music and art therapies. She is currently thriving while I am falling asleep at 7:15. Of course, she suffers greatly in the Spring.
All of this affects how I do therapy, of course.
I'm upbeat in the morning - my clients are often not so much. Sometimes leading therapeutic music experiences is like trying to herd cats... things just don't go any place you expect. My intern found that out this week when a group of kids just didn't engage with anything she tried. Most of my groups sat and stared at me. If I asked a question, they looked at me and shrugged, "I don't know." Really? You don't know what you like to eat? It was an interesting mess.
It will get better.
My students will eventually settle into the new routine - in just enough time for us to change the time AGAIN!
It's time to venture out into the darkness. I think I will light some candles and enjoy the sunrise!
Uploaded at 5:27am after 2+hours of computer and committee work. See you all soon!
Any time we monkey around with the time, my pet, my clients, and my own functioning level change. This week was just plain old strange. Clients did not respond to music therapy the way they usually do - it was just plain old strange. The cat has no problem waking me up at 3:45, exactly one hour earlier than I now need to be awake. She hasn't really understood that it is fine to stay in bed an extra hour. I slipped and fell AGAIN on Monday after school which I blame on the fact that it was actually "home" time instead of "work" time. I was exhausted and fell in a hole. Ugh.
I am a person who enjoys a good night's sleep. I have always been a "sun-downer." If you are not familiar with the concept, it is a phenomenon where persons with advanced stage dementia have significant behavior changes when the sun goes down. Most of my family gets sleepy when the sun goes down whether it's 9pm or 4pm. It's ridiculous, but when the sun goes down, we want to sleep. Fortunately, most of us are also morning people, so we awaken early and can function well in the early morning hours. I'm fine with morning darkness after a good night's sleep.
So, now I have lots of energy during the morning sessions and less and less as the day moves on. Fortunately, I know this about myself, and I schedule my sessions for more ams than pms. My art therapy colleague is just the opposite. She is a late night person and gets her energy later in the day. She schedules most of her sessions for the afternoons, so everything works out between music and art therapies. She is currently thriving while I am falling asleep at 7:15. Of course, she suffers greatly in the Spring.
All of this affects how I do therapy, of course.
I'm upbeat in the morning - my clients are often not so much. Sometimes leading therapeutic music experiences is like trying to herd cats... things just don't go any place you expect. My intern found that out this week when a group of kids just didn't engage with anything she tried. Most of my groups sat and stared at me. If I asked a question, they looked at me and shrugged, "I don't know." Really? You don't know what you like to eat? It was an interesting mess.
It will get better.
My students will eventually settle into the new routine - in just enough time for us to change the time AGAIN!
It's time to venture out into the darkness. I think I will light some candles and enjoy the sunrise!
Uploaded at 5:27am after 2+hours of computer and committee work. See you all soon!
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