Update: My "NTM" TME Challenge
Before I left for vacation, I made a coping skills calendar, identifying a specific skill to focus on each month. This month is emotion identification. Next month is Journaling. September is counting, and we're going to count in different languages as well as in our native languages. This is one way that I am going to use themes to organize a portion of my music therapy strategizing in the 2019-2020 academic school year.
This week's "NTM" TMEs included a "Play An Emotion" experience and a newly, completely composed song, "If I'm Walking Down the Hall, and My Face Looks Like This." I also took out a song that I haven't sung in years because it was the favorite song of a client of mine who died. I felt that I was ready to bring it out and use it again, and it had the same magic that it had with that particular client with my new ones. I was able to use my emotion cards and pictures in a different way than I usually use them, so another use for my big materials rule, the Six Things rule.
I am enjoying this self-imposed challenge, and it is making my creative process happen more consistently. I like that many of the "NTM" TMEs that I've created are my own compositions - the challenge includes the use of songs and ideas that do not originate with my own creative work. I've found that using music from others gets my own music bubbling up into the session. It has been an interesting side effect.
My problem now is finding the time to write these down into my database. I am very tired, so sitting in front of a computer makes me sleepy, and my current intern is in the termination phase of her time with us, so I am present in every session - less sitting in my office time. I've replenished my index card collection so I can write my ideas on my cards (long story!) and that's how I am going to be recording these ideas and melodies for the moment. I may be able to work on the computer later this weekend - we shall see.
In the years that I've been a music therapist, I've found that many things affect my love of this profession. At this point, I am feeling a bit sad that some of the loudest voices are very negative about the profession that I love. My attitude has always been that you deserve to be happy and staying in a job that is not making you happy is a choice that you make for yourself. It's discouraging to read comment after comment by people who just seem to enjoy complaining. I love my job, and I love being a music therapist as much now as I loved the idea of being a music therapist many, MANY years ago!
The things that affect my love of this profession the most are things that start with me - my interest in what I am able to offer to my clients, my creative process, my relationships with my clients. I have accepted, a very long time ago, that I will never get rich doing this job. I have always been able to find work as a music therapist. I have, and continue to have, part-time jobs to supplement the salary that I earn as a full-time music therapist. I have learned to recognize when I am heading towards burnout in my positions, and I have also learned to find ways to keep myself interested and positive and continuing in this profession.
It is now time to drag my very tired body to a job that is mostly made up of things I love (but, let's be completely honest here, no job is completely perfect!). I will spend some time making music with some of my clients. I will do the administrative tasks that are required of the facility and of my own ethical responsibilities. I will spend some more time engaged in making things - I have to make more emotion cards to replace the sets I made about three years ago - they are all shredding after all the use we've put them through! My poor intern is cutting them out and pasting them on my color coded cardstock. I'll take over for the laminating and final preparation. After work, I have to head to Michaels to get more cardstock to replenish the stuff I'm using right now. After all that, I am coming home to try to sleep as long as I can. Today is my Thursday-Friday, so the weekend starts after school today.
Time to sing the songs and make the music.
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