The Best Part of My Job

It is the first day of the school year, 2016-2017, and I am currently up at a very early hour, thinking about going outside to see if I can see any of the Perseid meteors and then making my way down to my place of employment. As I am doing these things, I am also thinking about my job.

It is easy to get bogged down in the things that I don't like about my job - you can't really escape from things you don't like - but in the past 20 years (yes, I've been at this facility for that long), the good things about my job have always outnumbered the bad things. That's the kind of job to look for; a place where the good outnumbers the bad.

What's the best part of my job?

The best part of my job is the fact that I get to make music with people.

This is a simplistic description, of course, but is one that is at the core of my choice of this profession. I have always loved working with people and helping them find solutions to their challenges. I also feel that I have a talent for making music, so music therapy has always been my way of combining the two things I love to do into a vocation. Before I heard the magical words, music therapy, I wondered what I would do with my life. I liked the ideas of being a teacher, an occupational therapist, a church musician, or a music educator, but once I heard those magic words, I was finished wondering. Music therapy has and will be my choice for the rest of my life.

When my music therapy clients return to their sessions on Monday, I will have the privilege of sharing a small piece of their lives.

Some clients will be glad to see me. Others, not so glad. Some will arrive with their peers. Some will attend sessions by themselves. Some will complete therapeutic music experiences that I have planned out. Others will lead me to what they want and need from music. I will follow and find the therapy in the experience.

I am looking forward to seeing my clients on Monday. I am looking forward to helping each one figure out the roles that music can play in their lives and assisting them in using music for nonmusical goals and skill development. I am looking forward to sharing something I love with them.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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