Thoughtful Thursday: Going Back

I have made a recent decision that is really making a difference in how I am writing and composing therapeutic music experiences.

Are you ready?

I am going back to writing things on actual cards.

Okay, it's not really all that earth-shattering, but it has really sparked my creativity and my ability to compose. I am no longer reliant upon a device of any type (except, I guess, a pencil would count as a device...hmm) - let me restate. I am no longer depending upon an electronic device of any type for my composition process, and the cards are something that I've had around me since the beginning of my music therapy evolution. I have two boxes of them on my desk here at home.

It may seem pretty silly to those of you who have been fully immersed in electronic ways to learn and compose music, but I find that my cards are the best way for me to notate my musical ideas. They are inexpensive and plentiful, so I can rip them if something isn't really working. (There is something VERY satisfying about ripping them up! I highly recommend it!) I can also scribble ideas down or capture ideas while I am moving to other places. So, I am experiencing a music therapy card renaissance. 

 Now, the cards are my first way of fixing an idea down, but I still use the electronics to complete the process. I can't get away from that completely, but I find that my ideas for TMEs come all the time, and I often can't put them into the computer because I am no where near something that will work.

I can hear some folks saying, "isn't there a voice recorder on your phone?" To be sure, I have no idea. It would take me longer to find the voice recorder on the phone than it does to jot down a basic thought and concept on one of my 5X7 cards. Also, my cards don't require regular charging like my phone does. All I have to do is sharpen the pencil (and I buy the mechanical types that don't need to be sharpened - constant accessibility!). The truth is, I am fighting the device dependence that seems to be happening all around me.

I've put a stack of index cards in my purse, in my work bag, and on my work desk. I still use super sticky post-it notes in the car, but I put them into my card box as soon as I can.

I am sure that one day, my poor nephews will have to clean out my stuff and will simply toss my cards into the trash. There will be no sentimental recognition of the love, the education, and the clinical trials that I see in that box. They will just see a box of cards and that box will go off to the dump with everything else. In the meantime, though, I will still flip through those cards and be inspired, nostalgic, and silly about my dependence on these small pieces of cardstock.

I feel a song coming on - time to get a card!