Nothing to Do With Music Therapy - But Something That is Part of My Fun Routine

From time to time, I like to focus on things that make up me that are not part of music therapy. I will write about my crafting interests, my current fiction reading, and topics that are more personal rather than professional. This is a purposeful practice of mine because I sometimes (ahem) get a bit over-focused on what I do rather than on who I am.

There is a difference, you know?

I am not only a music therapist, and I found that I was only going down a music therapy hole at times. My social media feeds were just about music therapy connections, and that became a morass of emotional responses that were not always the most positive responses in my life. It was time to expand my focus and see what other things I have to offer the world. As a result, I went against my natural inclinations and requested to join some groups that are not music therapy related at all.

On Facebook, I am part of three multi-media and junk journaling groups. Now, I am not an active poster on any of these groups, but I do enjoy seeing what other people are making and using in their journals. Their imaginations are SO different from mine that I am always marveling in their productions. I enjoy looking at things that challenge my way of thinking. On Instagram, however, I have two accounts that allow me to expand my interests even further.

I have one music therapy account. My musictherapyworkslandaker account is where I follow music therapists and their businesses. I also have a couple of other interests there - music educators, education handles, and various humor accounts. The other one, my personal account, is where I follow my relatives, zooborns, national archeology, cartoonists, and everything else that I love. I have made a specific effort to separate the two accounts. If a music therapist asks to follow my personal account, I decide whether I am interested in them more as a colleague or as a friend. If it is the former, then I move them over to the professional account rather than the personal one.

The personal account is where I post pictures of the paper crafting that I am doing. I post bullet journaling set-ups occasionally because I like them. I also put things there that are personal - what I'm doing and all that. My professional account is more for advertising what I can offer to the music therapy community - webinars, coursework, many other things of that type. I like having the two separate from one another.

I am still learning how to use Instagram, and it is complicated by the fact that it cannot be used on my desktop where I do all of my other posting activities. Oh well, I will keep trying. 

I am slowly getting used to a world where most people do everything on their phones. I am not one of those people, so it is difficult for me to use apps that only work through the phones. I am learning, but it is slow going. I recently was given a thermal mini printer to enhance some of my paper projects. I bought another one that was recommended to me by the gifter, so I have two new mini printers to use for various projects. Both of them only work with my phone, so I am going to have to figure out how to transfer pictures to my phone. None of the pictures that I want are in the right places...of course... so I am having to figure those things out.

There is always more to learn.