The End of My Professional Development Days - Highly Recommend

It is Saturday, and my professional development days are officially over.

I didn't write yesterday because I was busy making worship plans for Sunday since I am covering the service for our pastor who has a family situation. I focused on those plans instead of writing on the blog. I have finished all of the planning (and the sermon) up now, so I can get back to what I want to focus on - my professional development days.

This time away from work and focused on my professional development has been very valuable. I have organized my space and my mind a bit. I have also spent some time in active self-care and some fun. I am looking forward to doing this again this upcoming week with the holiday coming. There is something more refreshing about five days at home than two weeks off to some other location. I am going to spend time this week on home things - not professional development things, but I am sure that some of the professional stuff will leak in, just like personal stuff happened this week.

There is never a way to completely remove the personal from the professional, but it seems easier to remove the professional from the personal. One of the things that signals that I am refreshed and ready to return to my job as a music therapist is starting to think about things I can do with my clients. I start to get frustrated if I am away from my craft studio, computer, and stuff and am having ideas about what to do and what to make for my clients. That signals that I am ready to head back into work.

Lately, that feeling of refreshment eludes me. Part of that is because we have less and less time off when we get time off. Part of that is my need to rest so much more than I had to when I was younger. I no longer get bored with my own company these days as quickly as I did before. I have lots of things that I want to do and that occupy my time. It is not as easy to get bored at home now. There is always something that can be done. While I like where my life is now, I miss the days of boredom that help me get excited about doing my job.

The past three days have helped me figure out some of the things I want to do when I retire from my school job in four to five years (I am never sure, but it should be in five years on the outside).

So, here goes. I want to build a business that becomes well-known in the music therapy community. I want to be a source for materials and ideas and information for music therapists by music therapists. To do that, I have to work on getting out there. I want you to know what I have made, and I want to share it with you. So, to do that, I will be working on more marketing and product advertising. Please forgive the self-promotion, but if you could use some of these things, then why not support a fellow music therapist? Especially a music therapist who strives to keep things inexpensive to help you out...

So, yeah. My social media presence is going to get a bit more promotional than it has been in the past - it has to. I will try my best to keep as much of this blog dedicated to not promoting things, but I will be doing more of that as well. For example, did you know that I have two large collections of visual aids that promote choices and communication in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop? If you ever sing songs that ask clients about food or animals, these collections are for you!! Animal Choice Boards and I Want to Eat, Eat, Eat are the files that you want! While you are there, why not look around and see if there is anything else that you want? If you are not interested in making your own copies, let me know. I will make them for you for an additional cost and then send them to you all ready to use with clients.

Today is the start of my new professional quests - thanks for being here...