music, therapy, and me

I often look for ways to economize because I have never been rich. I have approached the realm of "comfortable" in my finances, but this has only happened after 32 years of professional life, so I still look for ways to economize. One of my biggest outside sources and resources is my library. Now, I have not always been a dedicated library patron. I have gone in spurts and starts over the years. Right now, I have a valid card, and I am learning about the different services that my library has that benefits me as a music therapist. I haven't fully explored everything that is available, but I am getting there. Of course, books - I don't have to purchase specific books for my themes, I can borrow them for a week and then return them. There is also music available - I have a couple of CD players and a stereo that my clients find interesting, so I can borrow CDs. Of course, most of the music on CDs is also on Spotify, so there isn't much use for that particular form of

Once again, it is Sunday, and once again, I am writing about my process of making up my own songs. It is time to revisit my Songwriting Kit - pictured here - and talk a bit about why I have it to begin with... I sing about all sorts of things in the progression of the sessions I lead, and I collect all sorts of ideas for therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) when I am outside of those sessions. Ideas will pop into my brain at any given time, and I've found that having a dedicated kit to songwriting and another one to writing down TME ideas and others for other ideas help me remember and act upon those ideas. When I try to rely on my memory, I am often disappointed with myself. Writing things down helps me to remember, so that's what I do. The kit offers me a chance to write things down in my solfege format, in formal notation, and as plain old ideas - in pencil, of course, because every musician knows to use pencil rather than ink. I like the kit because I can use it anywhere -

This has been a week full of interesting events - not happening to me personally, but happening around me. As you know, the presidential debate happened and was immediately followed by the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 events in my country. I was struck with the thought that the 25th anniversary will happen after I retire from my current job - it really made the idea of my own future a bit more real. Strange how much history can put your own life into perspective, if you let it. In my life, I have lived through many historical events, and it is always interesting to me what I remember about them and what I have forgotten. As I get older, I find that I search for causes and effects of the historical events that occured around me. I am always interested in how thoughts and attitudes are shaped by outside influences, so I analyze different ideas. Let me share a bit more about me than I usually share. I am not registered with any political party - mainly because I hate the propaganda that c

Tuesday is the day where I spend some time trying to share ideas and tips that have saved me money in my music therapy career in the hope that someone else out there might find my tips valuable. Today, let's talk about making things for your music therapy sessions. Now, I'm not talking about my favorite things - visual aids. This time around, let's talk about things like mallets, instruments, and functional tools for your clients. This may come from my upbringing by an occupational therapist, but I have always preferred making my own things rather than spending money. Call me silly, but if I can make a mallet for about $1.50 USD and with about 45 minutes of my time, I think that is more efficient than spending $15.00 on a pair of mallets. (Which reminds me, I need to make mallets!) I am definitely a process person who gets great pleasure out of making things for my clients to use. By the way, would you like to learn how to make your own mallets?? We could do a Zoom meeting

It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an

Well. It is time to get back to writing after a break. I noticed that my last post had about twice as many views as I usually get, so I suspect that some of you may have been checking to see if I've been posting. It has been a long two weeks, but I am feeling the call to write again, so here goes. Today is Sunday which means it is time to think a bit about songwriting. I haven't done much songwriting lately, so I will get my handy songwriting kit and my keyboard to help me in my process. I need some inspiration, so I am going to head over to my clip-art collection to see what I can use to spark some ideas. Maybe something Autumn in nature... In my Autumn clip-art collection, I have options for bats, for scarecrows, for sharks, for a village, lots of inspiration. So, I have some ideas now for what I can compose about and some visuals to go along with it all. I tend to be inspired more by pictures when I am composing something, so having pictures helps me come up with ideas. I ha