New School Year Thoughts and Revelations

It is almost the start of a new school year, one that brings with it a new boss, new focus on what we do as a faculty, and lots of new questions that don't have any answers as of yet. As always, this is the time when I start to think about goals and objectives for the next school year. The first thing that I try to do every year at this time is to read last year's post about goals and objectives. Last year's post was about not making goals for this year due to the uncertainties of the last school year. I guess my focus was more on survival than anything else at this time last year - rightfully so!

Of the things that I have mentioned in this post from last year, I have a retirement plan in place (Hooray) and have not had an exhibit yet. I have sold more things this year than in any other year so far, but still have not had a table at an exhibit hall. I won't be doing this particular thing until early next year at the earliest. I wanted to start off by having an exhibit at the regional conference, but those ended up being virtual and my stuff doesn't really translate entirely into the digital format. So, what do I do this year? Do I set goals? Do I do what is working pretty well for me right now in my personal life - set aspirations rather than goals? Be vague rather than specific? Be very specific so I can cross things off?

I see all of this as part of my bigger evolution for this year. My word for 2021 is deepen.

I selected this word at the beginning of the calendar year because I felt that I was a bit shallow. My work with clients was not as responsive as I wanted. My work with interns was in a shambles due to lots of changes in how we did our jobs. I felt that I was reacting rather than proacting to things happening, and that is not a place I like to be - EVER! 

I think that deepen has been a good word for me this year. I have striven to increase my understanding of music therapy and what I choose to do with my clients on a daily basis. I have taken some time away from being a full-time internship director and am only supervising one intern at the moment. I am enjoying the opportunity to be a part-time therapist while also supervising. I have had times when the learning that I have focused on this year has been exemplified in music therapy sessions with my clients. I have worked really hard at expanding my knowledge.

The other side of this word for me has been to deepen my sense of being me this year. I find that I often get too involved in what I do rather than who I am. My goal for this year was to deepen my self-awareness in a way that enriches my life. To this end, I have made an effort to explore who I am away from work and away from music therapy completely. I feel like my identity has shrunk a bit this year due to the losses that I had at the beginning of the calendar year, so I am trying to explore what and who I am outside of being a music therapist.

So, will I be writing goals and objectives for this school year? Doubtful. Things are still so shaky at work that I am not really sure what I could do to enhance what I am already doing since I have no clue what I will be asked to do... Will I continue to work on my word of the year? You bet. That is important to me, but I will not be writing down specific goals. I just don't want to do that at this stage in my life.

Deepen.