Non-Fiction Friday (AKA - I don't have access to my chapters at the moment...)

Please forgive my change in topic as I am currently away from easy access to my documents and do not want to make something up. I am sitting on the 15th floor of a hotel at the moment, listening to the sounds of traffic and construction, and enjoying the opportunity of just being away. Away from work, away from home - away.

I am awaiting the beginning of the Midwestern Region conference in Lincoln, NE, a conference that I seriously debated skipping but ended up attending. To my disappointment, not many people were interested in what I had to say about competency-based clinical training (I need to look at my description and amp it up a bit before attempting to submit it to other conferences), so I am here early with some time to kill. I could go crash the Passages portion of things, but that seems a bit strange considering it has been 30 years since I was even close to being an entry-level student of music therapy. I would probably stand out, and there are at least a couple of students who know that I am an internship director instead of a student. I wish that we had these types of experiences way back when I was a student.

I am armed with a map of where I am at the moment, and I am looking outside the window to orient myself in the map and to see how far things actually are versus what they look like on the map. I like maps. (Tangent!!)

One thing that I miss that we used to rely on completely is the printed out conference program. Gone are the days where you get a book listing all the options available to you. Now, you either have to have an app or print out your own information. I can do that, but I miss the books. I have gone through the conference offerings available and have written down what I want to experience and where those experiences are being held. I have nothing to do until 1pm, so blogging is happening now, breakfast and a shower are finished, and I guess I will watch some television and take some more pictures from my window.

One of the best things about regional conferences is that it is a small audience. There aren't as many attendees and there aren't as many things to have to choose from during the concurrent presentations. We have a couple of times where there are only two options available to us. That always makes for an interesting either/or type of choice. I am somewhat disappointed to hear that we are not going to have a live conference next year - it will be online - so my exhibit halls plans will have to change yet again. Oh well. Perhaps I am not destined to be an exhibitor. I will have to think of other options yet again.

I have never been very active at the regional level. I have served as a regional representative to a national committee, and I traveled to give CMTE courses on intern supervision for several years, but I have never had any other role in the region. I do NOT want to ever be an assembly delegate - too much parliamentary work involved, so I have not ever run for office or did much volunteering. I am not really sure why I haven't done this, but it has never been all that interesting to me. At the moment, I am waiting to see if I will be hired for a consulting job, so I cannot volunteer to be on yet another Board of Directors until I know about that result. The "we should know in a week or a week and a half" has now turned into a month. Interesting.

Back to conference thoughts.

I always feel very lonely, small, and unaccomplished when I come to conferences. I go to presentations and wonder why I'm not doing these amazing things that other music therapists are doing. I end up coming back to my hotel room to sulk about how small my music therapy mark is in this world. It always takes me some time to realize that I am not supposed to be like anyone else. I do amazing things as well, but since they are just part of what I always do, I forget that there are others who think the same things about me that I think about them.

If you ever feel this way, please know that you are also doing amazing things with the people that you choose. Your life is an inspiration to others just like you have those that you see as inspirations.

Today, I am going to a presentation by our keynote speaker, Jeff Koterba, a presentation on song composition, and a presentation about the Tremble Clefs. I was going to go to a fundraiser for AMTAS at Panda Express, but when I look at the map, it seems a bit farther than my body can walk. I will see if I can DoorDash it to the hotel. If not, then I will make a donation to AMTAS. I am looking forward to being around other music therapists for the next two days.

The last time I was here in Lincoln was in 2009. I was the representative to the AIAC back then, and I remember driving here back then. The road was spookily reminiscent and gave me very strong feelings of deja vu. I thought that the town itself had grown significantly. I am not very sure why I had such strong feelings this trip, because I really don't spend all that much time here, but something about Lincoln obviously sunk into my subconscious back then. I only had to turn around twice on my way into town - once because of a setting sun in my eyes and construction that obscured the exit signs, and once because I cannot follow directions very well and did not have my phone on - so all in all, a successful navigation. I brought almost everything I need for today - I left my hairbrush in the car - so, that's that. I still have three hours to kill before the opening session. Perhaps I will take a nap. That would be good...

If you see me at conference (I have long brown hair, am wearing a burgundy dress, and will probably be writing in a white book), please come up and say hello. I do not often feel comfortable initiating conversations in these types of social situations, so I tend to look busy even though I am really not busy at all. I love meeting new music therapists and am really looking forward to this time together. See you soon??

In the meantime, I am going to put together some therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) for these cute mini file folders that I have with me (and am looking to give away by the end of conference!)...

Aren't they cute??