My May Curse

I tend to have a difficult month when May starts up. This is the time of year when everything and anything goes wrong. I didn't think too much about the electricity failure and the toilet malfunction on Monday, but when I got completely soaked on Tuesday and had to wear my pajama pants for snow days for all of my work, I remembered the time of year and what usually happens. Today, I received notification that I can't do something I want to do, and that just fully cemented the May curse for me. Yesterday's curse contribution included the news that things are changing at my facility and that the way I've been told I have to do things will no longer work, but folks don't seem to understand that, so I'm having to do lots of thinking and some convincing that stuff will need to change.

So, you may be thinking, "Curse? Seriously? That sounds ridiculous!"

I agree, but things have happened so much over the years, that I expect that something pretty big will happen during the first 21 days of the month of May. For some reason, 2019's version of the curse seems to be a daily occurrence rather than one big ginormous (interesting - my spell-check doesn't flag that as a non-word) situation like what happened to me when I was 24 - two great big gnarly bruises on my shins after falling on top of a podium with only 30 minutes to go before the end of the curse. That year was fun. Or like the situation on my third birthday - some sort of mystery skin situation which meant the pool party had to be cancelled because no one knew if I was contagious. There was also the year that I went camping and the night before my birthday, I was bitten by some mosquitoes. My face swelled up so much that my mother did not recognize me when she came to camp! That was year 13. Some years have lots of situations, others have at least one great big one! This year seems to be lots of little ones.

I have 19 days left of my May curse - it only seems to go until my birthday every year.

I think I may be looking forward to what the rest of this time brings. It is an interesting way to live, let me tell you! 

Yeah. Happy May.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Going on a Squeegee Hunt

One of the songs that I sang over and over and over again as a song leader in Girl Scouts was "Going on a Squeegee Hunt ." Now, you may be wondering what a "squeegee" is - good question! It is an imaginary creature that was probably invented by some obscure girl scout in Southern California many, MANY years ago! Anyway, similar to the traditional children's song of " Going on a Lion/Bear/Tiger Hunt ," the song takes you through a sequential process over, under, around, and through various obstacles towards a goal. Today, as I am sitting here writing, I am thinking about the poor squeegee being hunted. It is just in its cave, trying to do its squeegee things without interruption, when suddenly, BOOM! Some Girl Scout arrives to poke it! The poor squeegee does what it can - it jumps up and chases the Girl Scout all the way home!! This has not been a good work week. It is amazing how people will make mountains out of molehills. Here is the deal. I se...
Read more

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: Client Goals First and Foremost

Image
When I am writing music, I tend to do one of two things. I either start with a specific client in mind and write for that client's goals and objectives, or I start with an idea and let the idea grow regardless of the clients that I am serving at the time. I spend time with lots of hypothetical clients - thinking about the vast number of clients and their unique goals as I develop songs and therapeutic music experiences (TMEs). Today, though, I would like to start with the first focus - that of a specific client and his or her or their goals. Currently, I am sharing a wall with a class of students who are experiencing lots of life and school changes. Two students have transferred from residential care to home care and are now day students. One student is brand new to the classroom. Another student recently left the class. All of these changes have shifted the dynamics in the classroom group, and old behaviors of concern have reemerged as well as finding new behaviors to contribute. ...
Read more