TME Tuesday: Writing My sing about mini Edition for This Month

Every month, I sit down to write up a series of therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) to send out to subscribers. I enjoy the process of revisiting old ideas and making up new ones to go out into the world and help other therapists by sparking their creativity. I also have fun trying to write TMEs for a variety of client populations and clinical foci - stepping away from the clinical goals of my own clients to embrace other goals and ideas.

I am getting ready for sing about february 2022. I like to release these out about three months in advance because I feel that folks can practice and revise and expand upon ideas when they are provided in advance. My subscribers don't seem to mind. 

I have been thinking a bit about songs that I had to sing over and over again when I first started working at my current facility, and I've realized that I no longer sing those songs. Sings like "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and "Chapel of Love." My students now don't request those songs, so I think I will develop a TME that includes them somehow. I do not even know if my students are aware of those songs. Perhaps I can make a digital interactive thing available as well, just in case I am gone or sick in February. 

Anyway...

I am enjoying a bit of nostalgia as I go through my TME database for songs that can fit the North American February concept - a little about love, a little about winter, a bit about Black History, a bit about silly celebration days that no one else seems interested in. I am seeing songs that I wrote in my internship and others that were perfect for my clients 20 years ago. I am seeing things that are not all that relevant to the students that I serve right now but that would be perfect for adults (since all those kids from 20 years ago are now adults). I am seeing things that I could bring to my music therapy space to (hopefully) engage my current students. I am seeing things that I would never bring to my current students. It is always a nice trip down memory lane as well as a way to spark my own creativity - I enjoy looking over my database.

My process is pretty simple. I open my sing about mini database to check which TMEs I have published in the past. I open up last month's edition and start from there. The last pages of each edition include a monthly list of those silly celebration days that I mentioned above. It is a good list to help me find creative ideas that reach beyond the typical things that we do in each month - not just Valentine's Day. (The biggest problem about doing these things in advance of the start of the year is that the January edition never has any dates included because the website that I use does not update until around now. I always have to include February and March dates on this particular edition.) I also look to see what sheet music I need to include as well as any supplemental visual aids that I can add into the edition. I tend to find between 4-6 TMEs (less if there are lots of visual aids, more if there are not) to include in each month. At times, the TMEs are brand new while others are definitely not new - and you can tell that by what I include in my TME formats - another nostalgic point for me.

I compile all those things together, and then send it out to subscribers on the 5th of each month.

This is truly a labor of love for me. I enjoy writing ideas. I enjoy making up digital resources for music therapists to use. I enjoy offering creative sparks for therapists to use when working with clients, and I am happy to be able to send this out to subscribers for $9.00USD per month. If you are interested in subscribing, here is a link to sign up through PayPal. 

Happy February, everyone! (From way back in November!!) 

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