I'm a Bit Over Ambitious...Is That a Surprise??

I currently have WAY too many ideas in my idea book that I want to do but don't have time to get finished. This happens to me quite often during these winter months. The summer months tend to be my time to stagnate and become less interested in finishing things, but the winter months are my time to create and dream and try to keep up with the flow of things that come into my brain at random times.

Right now, my idea list has the following projects on it:
  • a new CMTE course for internship directors and supervising music therapists - four out of 10 modules outlined awaiting Powerpoint and videos
  • sing about March - three out of five TMEs written and formatted. Visual aids are uploaded to Teachers Pay Teachers - still need one more visual aid to go with a TME that needs to be written.
  • proposals for two music therapy opportunities - one is local, one is not. I'm thinking through things like fees, possibilities, and what I can offer to other music therapists as I go into this type of consultation work (hopefully).
  • working with a consultant to increase my visibility in the music therapy world - took a gulp last week and made a step into courage and the unknown. I'm looking forward to getting started with this consultant who is just fun!
  • sing about April - I'm in the brainstorming phase for this mini-packet, coming up with TMEs that go with this month. Release date - hopefully by February 5, 2019. Stay tuned for more information!!
  • upcoming presentations - I have four presentations to prepare. One is for the Online Conference for Music Therapy and three are for the Midwestern Region Conference in April.
  • several song ideas are floating around in my head. I am doing lots of improvisation and singing random things to random people (and not so random people - my sister actually asked for songs last night to make her evening commute a bit less stressful.)
My biggest issue is that I have all these ideas, but I am exhausted during these months of creativity and idea generation. I get home and just want to sleep. That's why I have my book of ideas - to store my thoughts until I can work on them.

I am going to set an intention for this day. I am going to finish one of the things on my list this evening. I don't know which one it will be, but I will finish something on this list when I get home tonight. 

Have you ever heard the adage, "bit off more than you can chew?" This is what happens to me as a person - I often bite off more than I can chew. My brain is more ambitious than my body, and my ideas list grows and grows without anything being accomplished. So, I am going to spend time accomplishing something today. We'll see what it is this evening.

My intention?

Move forward on one of my ideas.

Set and moving forward. Time to go be creative now. See you all very soon! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more