Silliness and Socialization

I am at the beginning of my Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) cycle. This is a part of my life that happens every year, and it seems to be related completely to the hot, humid life that occurs around me at this time. I was able to stave off some of the symptoms because we had a nice long spring, but summer is here in its humid, buggy, unpredictable glory, so I can feel things starting to take over.

My SAD has lots to do with my difficulty breathing during these conditions, I am sure. I have chronic headaches, bad asthma, and lots of lethargy. I let things pile up and doing stuff is difficult. I try to minimize the humidity but it is a lost cause around here. I am going to buy a dehumidifier because (duh) that might help with my breathing.

Anyway, to combat some of these feelings, I am trying a bit of silliness and some socialization. I went to Topeka yesterday, our capitol city, and a place that I avoid like the plague because I get lost there very easily - for some strange reason. I can navigate almost everywhere EXCEPT in that town. Anyway, I have a very good friend that lives there and so I headed out to see her. I enjoyed the drive through the Kansas hills and kept thinking, "I need to do this more often." So, I am going to. I am going to drive to Topeka at least once per month this summer to shop in places that are not available to me in my town and to visit my friend.

We had a good couple of hours together, talking and just enjoying each other's company. We haven't seen each other since before the pandemic and lots has happened in our lives since that event. We laughed, I cried, we ate good food, and then we noticed a major storm coming in, so I skedaddled back home. I got turned around the wrong way (which happens EVERY TIME I AM IN TOPEKA) but still knew where I was so was able to find my way home about 60 seconds (literally) before the storm broke.

After all of that, I was able to get my medication and then stayed up until nine! Way to adult!! I woke up this morning and started looking around my house. It has slipped into horrible status, so it needs to be tamed a bit.

The problem with my SAD is that is has an illness component. It is difficult to work when you cannot breathe and when your body fights against everything, but I have to do something. I need to first clear off the kitchen counter so I can put my ice maker up. Then, I will need to take things out to the trash and recycling bins. That is a doable task. I just have to do it.

The silliness that I am introducing into my life has a bit to do with television shows and finding the absurdity in everyday life. I am watching Once Upon a Time - I have tried to watch this show and never got past the first couple of seasons. It seems to be enough silly and soap opera-ish and campy to keep me interested, but it doesn't feel fun for long. I often have to take a break away from it all because it takes energy away from me...

I am also reading light books at the moment. Contemporary adult fiction by Meg Cabot is my go-to when it comes to reading for fun. I love the silly nature of her books, so they are perfect for me to read without having to think too much about anything at all. It makes for a good break from reading about emotional theory and music therapy. Those stories always make me laugh, even when I am reading them for the seven hundredth time.

So, to combat my SAD, I am going to use a dehumidifier, my nebulizer, my bullet journal, my silly books, my car, my friends, and my big bucket of Red Vines that I bought last week but haven't cracked open yet...that needs to change today. Always Red Vines. NEVER Twizzlers. Just so you know.

I am hoping that the humidity is lower today, but I am not sure that is possible. Nope. It is at 93% and the sun hasn't risen completely. Lovely. Okay. Break open the Red Vines now!

Time to make room for some silliness and socialization... 

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