The New Reality

My school district has closed for the next week for sure and probably for the rest of the school year - well, at least if the governor has anything to say about it. My administrator sent out a copy of an email "sent to all USD staff" (not sent to my email address) that states that we will be extending our break for another week as we come up with a plan. Our school, being a public, special purpose school housed in a residential treatment facility, will not match any of the decisions made by the superintendent. So, I'm not sure if I'll be trying to do teletherapy with my groups or just stay at home. I don't know if I'll have a salary for the next two months or not. I don't think I'll be paid by the church since the church is closed and I'll not be needed during this time. I only have two more months with that paycheck anyway, but every little bit will help these days.

Uh-oh. I'm starting to spiral. 

Here's what I know for sure.

There is nothing that needs to send me into anxiety right now. We are all facing uncertain times at the moment, so we will all work through this together. It is a new reality. It is a new global reality, and we will figure out what needs to be changed and fixed and strengthened so the next pandemic will not overtake us in this way again.

I spent some time sitting on my loveseat yesterday brainstorming and trying to think about things I could do to keep myself busy. I think that I will be okay keeping myself occupied for two weeks, but I know that three weeks will be a stretch for my capacity to be here by myself...with the cat...every day. I will need to find things to keep myself busy - music therapy and other types of things. So, my music therapy "to-do" list is starting.

I have already designed some music therapy session planning pages. I'm going to debut them in a video that I want to film this week. I have two TMEs in progress and several Teachers Pay Teachers ideas to flesh out and then post. I am going to continue my stuff purge as well. 

Does anyone need any homemade file folder activities? I have a bunch that I will not be able to go sell at the cancelled Midwestern region conference.

I am going to stay firm in my belief in humanity.

In the midst of all this uncertainty, I am clinging to what I know to be true.

I know that we will get through this pandemic. There will be people that die and are affected significantly by this virus, but we will get through this and then we will recover. There will be no one who remains unaffected by this experience and it will change us as a global community. It is already changing us as a community. We are united in this experience in a way that no other experience in my lifetime has united us.

Time to figure out where to start on my stuff purge today. I'm thinking I need to throw my old music therapy articles into the recycling bin today. That would be a way to start on this new reality.

We've got this.