Home Again...And, In a Better Mood Than This Morning

I am now back at home, in my own surroundings, and ready to get going on the rest of my month. While I love traveling, I also love being home. I appreciate home so much more after being on the road, so I am grateful for the chance to head out into the world and then come back to a place I love to be.

My day ended up much better than my morning indicated.

This morning, I was in a bummer of a mood. I was stuck in self-pity and criticism loops. I am less prone to that type of thinking now. The change happened because I had several small and one big interaction with people at conference which allowed me to reflect about things.

Music therapists are a wonderful bunch of people. Over the course of the day, I engaged in some shameless (well, sorta) self-promotion after realizing that no one really knows that I've been talking about the therapeutic elements of music (they even use same terminology that I've been using for 12 years now) for a very long time. I met my new AIAC representative today, and I am glad to know that she is taking over. She started her internship back when I was the AIAC representative, so things have gone full circle. One music therapist apologized for something that I did not recall, but I did appreciate the guts that it took to apologize. Several people asked me about my blog (after the aforementioned self-promotion), and a friend of mine offered some suggestions about how I can start to increase marketing and cultivate new opportunities.

After starting the day in a bah, humbug type of mood, I am ending with a feeling of contentment. I have some things to think about and to do, but I am feeling a bit more comfortable that I can do things to move me towards my goals.

For now, I am going to contemplate the ideas that I have been presented, and I'm going to research guitars. I need a new one for home. I promised myself that I would get one when my hand rehabilitation was over, and that's been over for quite some time now. I did not go through all of my trip money, so I will have enough for a new instrument.

Thank you, music therapy colleagues, for just being you. You will never know the types of things that make a difference in the lives of the people around you. I was the recipient of those things today.

Love you all!