Synthesis Sunday: Book Selection Day

A while back, I decided that it was time to start reading for music therapy enrichment again. Now, I have done this particular thing many times over my career - with varying levels of success, but I feel that this is one way that I can continue to grow as a music therapist even while conferences are being canceled and things are a bit uncertain in the American music therapy world. There are always books - that is one of my personal mantras as well - there are always books.

I tend to fall back into books when I need to do so. Right now, family matters are taking over most of my emotional bandwidth, so reading is something that I can do while still engaging in fretful worrying and hypothetical planning. I have decided that I do not have to take notes when I am reading. Before, I insisted on taking notes because "that's what you do when you are reading for research." Then, I realized that I am no longer required to do research. I can just read. So, notes are no longer required of me.

I have not been reading much in the music therapy genre lately. I recently picked up a book that I was reading earlier this school year, Engaging Autism, by Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder. It goes through more information about the Floortime method of interaction - one that I find to be humanistic in nature, and one that I explored earlier through a course offered by John Carpente. So, I have been reading off and on. Lately, with my interns doing more and more of my clinical responsibilities, I have been reading a bit more because I have more time. That book is almost finished, so it is time to start the selection process for my next book to read.

At times when my life is a bit more organized (insert cynical laugh here), I have a place where all my music therapy textbooks are contained in one place. I have lots of them, and I've kept some of the original editions of books that I first encountered. I have subsequent editions of some of those original texts, but I have not bothered getting updated versions of them all. There is something quite satisfying about going to the music therapy textbook shelf and randomly pulling out something to read, even if some of the information is outdated. The concepts and ideas are often still sound, even though some of the language and techniques are old.

Right now, though, my library is still scattered all over the place, so I can't just wander in, pick out a book, and be done with the process. I have to take what I can currently find. At the moment, that means three different books. I am not sure what I will do to select a book, but here we go.

I think I will use a "draw a title from the hat" technique to choose my next reading book. Here I go...

Step one - indicate each textbook on a small piece of paper. Here, my codes are Feminism, Mental Health, Other (because I can't remember which other book I recently found), and Cultural Diversity. These are tiny pieces of paper that I then folded up into smaller pieces to further disguise their indications from me. I like letting fate decide things that aren't extremely important.

Step two - put each piece of paper into a container of some sort. I have a small tin that I got as part of a shortbread order that I made. I love Walkers shortbread, and this one was on sale. I like the tin but have never really had a justifiable use for it. Now I do!!

Step three - shake the tin until a piece of paper falls out. I decided not to pick one but to let the Fates decide for me. This worked out very well, as you can see. I shook the tin several times and this pieces of paper hopped out onto the desk. So, this is the next book that I will read...

Step four - find out which one is indicated...

In this case, the book indicated is not a music therapy text. The book that I have in this category is either Stamped or How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I just saw it recently and wanted to include this as a possibility for my next bit of reading. That's the one that jumped out at me, so that's the next book I am going to read for my personal and professional education.

Okay. I know what I will be reading the next several weeks. It is time to get started. I hope that your part of the world is a bit more settled than my part of the world is at the moment. Happy Sunday.