Later Than Usual Thoughts

I didn't get a post in early this morning because the Online Conference for Music Therapy took over my brain and my to-do list, but all of that is finished for the day, so I thought I would try writing in the afternoon. I don't often do afternoon posts, mainly because I am more likely to be able to sit down and write in the quiet pre-dawn hours, but today is an exception, so why not?

I spent my early morning hours going through several of the forms and emails that I have to send out over the next seven days, and then finished up my "work" time with a training for some of our presenters. I got to train a music therapist from Norway, one from Greece, and another from Japan - all from my home in Kansas, USA. I love this form of interaction, and I am very grateful that I can participate in things like the Online Conference for Music Therapy, Inc. I would never have "met" many of the music therapists that I have interacted with around the world otherwise. I cannot travel to where they are, and they cannot travel to where I am. OCMT has enabled me to make music therapy acquaintances from all over the world. That is thrilling and a bit humbling as well.

After I finished things up and, with the help of my new colleague from Greece, discovered an error on my part, I decided to come upstairs for a while to get some food and take a nap. The nap didn't happen, but I did work on a couple of projects that I have been wanting to get started for some time now. One of them is pictured here. It is a chain that stretches across my bedroom window for my star ornament collection. My mom and my sister use stars to indicate my gifts at Christmas, so I have lots of them. I found this chain a couple of months ago, and I finally started the process of getting this project finished. You can see some of my stars in the picture - I have a couple more boxes filled with ornaments to put in my star room. (I love all things space - the star is my favorite shape!) I also ordered a chair for my entertainment room, ate some really good barbecue, and started a book just for fun. I am now listening to some Marvel stories while writing about nothing.

Next weekend, at this same time, I will be on the downhill slide of OCMT 2023 - we will have three and a half hours left to go.

There are some things that you do in life because they enrich you and that is the only reason. OCMT is one of those things for me. Other things include watching every single moment of every single Star Wars everything, collecting star things because I like 'em, and writing. the month before OCMT is one of the most stressful times of my year. People can anger me during that time more easily than any other time. I have to hold my tongue so often, and I have to engage in my coping skills when dealing with people who think that their schedules, concerns, and situations are more important than mine. Over and over and over again. I often end up being sick either during or after the conference, but I do not want to give it up. I love the opportunities for interaction and learning more about our profession from people far away. The inconveniences and constant need for coping skills are vastly outweighed by the community that happens. I just forget that during the weeks prior to the conference as I coordinate registrations, taxes, people who complain that they had to wait a day for an answer to something, trainings for my presenters, whether or not we have materials just in case something happens to our presenters, and the list goes on.

For the moment, though, I am enjoying the milder weather that we have today, the sunshine beaming into my window, and the shadows of the stars that I have hung up. I have a couple more hours left of my Saturday, and I intend to enjoy my book until it is finished.

Good times.