Thoughtful Thursday: Keeping My Opinions to Myself...Well, Not Here!

I am learning.

It has been a very long and pervasive struggle, but I am learning that I do not have to respond to anyone or any particular thought at any time. I do not have to put my opinions into contentious situations or conversations where there is no benefit to me or to others. I will not contribute to the noise that is already present in our lives.

At the moment, I am watching a couple of conversation themes. There is a huge disconnect between people looking for music therapy jobs and people hiring music therapists for jobs. I have to be honest, I tend to side with the business owners in this particular debate. Maybe it is because I am an old music therapist, but I do not feel that brand new music therapists deserve the type of salary that I now earn - that seems to be the level that this generation is seeking. Without experience. Without understanding how music works on a deeper level. Without being willing to comply with requests from supervisors or work the schedules assigned. Without working at times that clients are available to be seen.

Is this a generational thing? 

I am wondering these things as I try to seek understanding about what is happening in the music therapy world.

Why is there so much disconnect between what job seekers are expecting and what business owners are able to provide? 

Are the only voices that I come across the disgruntled ones? I hope so, because I see lots of disgruntlement out there but no really happy music therapists posting things that are great about being in this profession. Are there others who love being a music therapist, despite the financial challenges and the other things that come along with being in a service industry? Are there others out there that are confused by the demands of some? I am curious about this because I tend to get very isolated in my opinions and ideas, especially right now.

When people ask me about potential salaries in the field of music therapy, I tell them to expect about what a new educator would earn in an entry level position. Teachers are not paid much, that is true, but it is a realistic expectation. If your lifestyle includes buying new devices every year and buying expensive whatevers, then music therapy may not be the best professional choice for you. It is not a profession that is highly valued by others - just like most other service and therapy professions out there. It is a profession where you can build your salary from what is considered starting pay to something more, but it is going to take time, consistency, ability to work within established systems, and the realization that every music therapist has to be able to do music therapy. You have to be competent to keep a job. You have to realize that being a professional means that you will have to acknowledge your faults as well as your strengths. Since we are human, after all, there are many faults that are present within us. 

Maybe that is my primary difficulty with these conversations - there seems to be lots of demands for things to change to accommodate ME because I am SPECIAL! I want this because I DESERVE it because I AM SPECIAL.

I call bull on that particular attitude. You cannot just declare yourself to be SPECIAL - there has to be some demonstration of what you do. 

I often think about the movie, The Incredibles, when I start down this particular path of thinking. Syndrome has a quotation that resonates with me. "Oh, I’m real. Real enough to defeat YOU! And I did it without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I’ll give them heroics. I’ll give them the most spectacular heroics anyone’s ever seen! And when I’m old and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone can be a super! And when everyone’s super. No one will be." 

Have we become this? Have we moved into an era where everyone is super which means that no one actually is? Does anyone realize that there is a time when we all have to realize that we are just who we are? The world does not bend to my will only. The world is a community of humans - here for a short period of time before we depart this realm of existence. In 30 years, it will not matter to many people that I was here or that I was a music therapist at my facility. I will be part of music therapy history - probably just a nameless part of that history. Does this mean that I shouldn't try to get the best out my life that I can? Of course not, but it also means that I am not the important person that my parents once made me out to be... are you that important??

I know that this is a very preachy post. I am in a grandstanding type of mood, I guess. Thanks for making it this far.

Okay. I know. I haven't really done anything at all to solve this particular problem. To be honest, I have no idea what to tell the people who complain that the jobs that are available out there are not enough for them, and I also have no idea what to tell the music therapy business owners who have too many clients to fit into their jam-packed schedules that need competent therapists who have experience or who are willing to gain that experience with the limited support available to them. Throwing more money at therapists may get more applications, but will the services that are provided be what clients need? Not often. Where do clients come into the consideration? Business owners want the best therapists for the clients who trust those owners to provide good music therapy. Music therapists want the best for themselves (which is not a bad thing). There has to be a compromise point.

I am refraining from interacting with the voices that I happen upon on social media because I realize that there is no easy answer or a one size fits all sort of answer either. I know that my voice will be discounted in any conversation because I am not willing to take sides. I understand the perspectives of both parties (though, as I previously stated, I tend to be more sympathetic towards the business side of things). Why would my voice and argument help this situation AT ALL? 

There are times when I just want to scream, "STOP BEING SUCH SPOILED BABIES!!" at the voices on all sides! 

Now I just want to go to work for a quiet day of bowling for bottles and Orff improvisations and limited interactions with humans outside of my music therapy room. So, off I go into the last day of comfortable temperatures before the storm arrives to face what comes next.

Have a wonderful day!