TME Tuesday: Tired MJ Edition

For some reason, I didn't sleep much last night, so I am already a bit scatterbrained, but I am still going to post a TME Tuesday post since I took yesterday off from blogging.

I am in a stage of relatively static creativity - as defined by me, this means that I am not as creative as I like to be, but I am still able to finish things up. This is when my ideas book comes in handy - the original creative process is already finished. All I have to do is transcribe things and finish the process of formalizing my songs or ideas, but when I am not feeling all that excited about writing something, I can dive into my ideas book to find some half-formed ideas to finish.

Here are the things that I have recently found and placed into my book - a 12-bar blues closing song - It's time to go back to class...; a song about mandalas piggybacked to Lean On Me; When I Go To Work - an original song for the end of this month when I am gone on bereavement leave; A Garden of Manners - reinforcing the idea of good manner use when asking for things; First This, Then That - a TME about sequencing; and the start of a new digital resource for the month of October. Every time I find one of my scribbled solfege notes, I put it into my book. A little bit of washi tape helps with that process and keeps things where they need to stay until I am ready to work on finishing things up.

My process for transcription is pretty much the same every time I sit down to work. I keep the keyboard nearby because I can figure out melodies more quickly with the piano than the guitar. I also use my note transcription software (I use PrintMusic by Finale) to help me with the rhythm. I can tell when I have done things correctly when I listen to it - not just when I write it down. I have to hear it to know if my rhythm notation is correct. I then open up my computer programs (Word, Excel, and PrintMusic), and start the process of writing my ideas into my preferred structure. 

My TME development process includes leaving projects in my Ideas for Development file for as long as it takes before I am finished with the entire situation. I have ideas in there that I have had since I switched to an electronic TME database. I have never been able to finish them - usually because I am no longer interested in the ideas, but cannot delete them completely. Packrat behavior happens in electronic ways as well as in the amount of stuff that people have around them...

I am going to take my tired body to work today and try to keep up with my most difficult group of the week. I am almost hoping for the type of dizzy spells that I had yesterday to keep me at home, but I really can't take the time right now. I will be gone for a week and a half at the end of this month for my cousin's memorial service, so I can't really take time now because I am tired. It is a conundrum, to be sure. My day includes five groups, three individuals, and a clinical team meeting. I will be leading three groups and two individuals today. I have no idea what we are going to do but I will know before they arrive and will adapt things based on the moods and interests of my clients. I will look at my TME database to find some ideas that have not been shared for quite some time (that's the primary benefit of having a database of ideas - the constant inspiration). Before that, though, it is time for a shower and some English History on YouTube - I am learning a bit more about the Plantagenets these days. Wish me luck as I strive to stay awake today...