Humidity Tired

I am not a fan of summer. Never have been, probably never will be, ESPECIALLY as I live in a humid environment which wreaks havoc on my breathing. My mom likes to tell a story of me as a toddler. Mom asked if I wanted to take a walk (we lived in Temple, Texas at the time). I looked outside the window and said, "Nope, sun's out." I have never really been all that fond of summer.

I am currently almost as medicated as I can possibly be for this humid environment. Allergy medications? Check. Inhaler? Check. Nebulizer? Not yet - can't nebulize and drive, so I have to wait until I get to work to do that medicating. Through it all, I am having to sing in a mask in a room that is not being well air conditioned (though the bathrooms and the closet [yep, THAT closet] are plenty cold. This has been an interesting week of music therapy with challenges that are pretty unique to me. Another music therapist would not have these same struggles - that's for sure.

So, I am struggling to take in every breath, am trying to calculate the best times to nebulize without interrupting music therapy sessions to get it done, and am wandering around in a haze of internal sensations that just make things a bit more difficult during this time of year. The good news for me is that my brain has settled down after the revelations of Tuesday's meetings and situations. The bad news is that I am not extremely interested in starting the task that I know I have to do which is taking things out of my office!

image: middle-aged woman staring into the camera with flat affect.
Tired. So tired.
I know that this is going to happen every year. I plan for it to happen and yet it still gets to me. This has been the hottest week so far this summer season and it has only been in the 90's (Fahrenheit, my international lovelies!), so the worst is yet to come. Yesterday was only 45% humidity and it was a rough day to breathe. Grass pollen is very high right now so my lungs are trying their best to protect us all by closing up. It's a no-win type of situation that makes my job - singing -  more and more difficult. Add that mask on top of it all, and I am just done!

Today's sessions include three 30 minute groups and one individual. After that, my weekend starts and I can medicate as much as I need to without being concerned about hurtling down the freeway while under the influence of asthma medication. I can also stay in my air-conditioned house as much as I need to so I am able to breathe. I am also going to move the air mattress into the cooler front room as a sleeping option to the warmer back room - just in case. I am looking forward to this weekend - I have an online conference meeting and that is about all that is scheduled for me. I can do some work around here because the laminating is all finished. I have a couple of subscription boxes coming in the next couple of days, and I am finally getting a new ice maker today! I will be able to have ice cold drinks whenever I want again. That is a luxury that I appreciate to my very core!

Enough blathering about all this. I am tired. I am having difficulty breathing. I am constantly feeling hot. I have to remember to put the nebulizer and the medication in my way out the door so I won't forget it (again). Happy Thursday, everyone!
 

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