Back to Blogging

I haven't been as dedicated to blogging as I like lately, mainly because, well...you know...but even before all this stuff happened, I wasn't doing too well with my previous routine. For some reason, blogging just wasn't as natural for me as it had been before this year. I was spending WAY too much time staring at the computer screen rather than actually writing anything. Blogging wasn't doing what I needed it to do for me. It was more of a chore than a pleasure.

So, I gave myself some grace and decided that I would only blog when I felt an urge to do so. That worked pretty well with some guilt, but not as many twinges as I thought I would have. I think that season, though, is over for me. I'm starting to feel the need to blog again, so here it goes...

Week of Blogging - Day One
It is Monday. Easter is over, and there are five and a half weeks left of this very strange school year. I am still not able to figure out my schedule between working part-time at school and part-time at work. I am constantly challenged by things changing around me without my control...at...all... 

I keep getting inquiries about internship placements. These inquiries are throwing me for a loop. I cannot do what I need to do to ensure the safety of my clients and future interns right now. Some folks don't seem to understand this and keep telling me what I am going to do about intern interviews and acceptances. I'm sorry, but an academic director does not get to decide that I will accept an intern sight unseen because "that's the way we have to do it now." Nope. I get to decide what happens in my internship program - not an academic director from one school. I do not have a university-affiliated program ON PURPOSE!

I am currently more worried about the three interns that I have relationships with already. My current intern is working on projects and watching webinars and the like for about 4 hours per day. We are operating without any guidance from anyone. The letter from AMTA was ridiculous in how vague it was, and we have had no information since that time. I have my next two interns lined up - one is supposed to start in June and the other in September, but I keep hearing lots of different timelines about school and "getting back to normal," and this keeps me from being able to settle into looking at future placements. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get the required hours for the interns I have already committed to in the time frames that I anticipate.

Other that, things seem to be going pretty well. I am finally starting to get into the routine of not leaving my home until later than before. I am still getting to work early, but not too early. I figure if I get there a bit early, I can leave a bit early as well. I am still struggling with my afternoon routine, but I am finding ways to give myself grace in this situation and not judge myself too harshly for napping. I cleared out two boxes of detritus this weekend, and I managed to get through all of my laminating (I haven't cut anything out yet, but everything is laminated). I found the electrical socket by my craft desk, so I can now laminate things at the craft desk instead of having to unplug the stereo to plug in the laminator. My home is getting cleaner, slowly but surely.

I am reading more for pleasure than for professional edification these days. That's good for my spirit. I'm spending more time in front of the computer than I like, but that's what happens when one of your jobs goes full-force into online interaction rather than real life interaction. It takes longer than you might think to record, edit, and upload videos. I did my 2019 taxes on Saturday, so I can cross that off the list. I'm not happy about the result, but taxes are finished. I am working through my daily lists of things to do - with LOTS of grace extended towards myself.

I have an hour left before I leave for work, and I am already feeling the "but, I might be late" itch of anxiety happening. I will spend a bit of time trying to quell that itch by doing some chores. If I don't do chores, I'll head towards breakfast. That's not good - I need to watch the eating thing... Maybe I'll bake cake mix cookies this afternoon...mmmm. That's the problem - I go straight for the food.

I'm returning to my blogging roots this week - one post per day about whatever occurs to me. There may be some thoughts about music therapy, but it may follow the most recent pattern of being mostly about me. That may be what I need in these times. We shall see.

Thanks for reading.

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