After the Aftermath of OCMT 2026

Today is Monday, February 9, 2026, and the Online Conference for Music Therapy 2026 is over! This is a really good thing because it means that I have little to do but my own stuff for the rest of the month. There is very little that feels better than having a large project completed, and this is that feeling. I am tired, but that is my usual state these days, so I really can't pin my exhaustion on OCMT - it's just me!

My sister has the day off today, but I do not. We both have next Monday off which will be nice. I won't be doing anything special next Monday, but I will not have to go to work, so there's that!

I do have to get going and get things happening at work today. I am not sure what we are going to do this week, but I will come up with something. I am having to rethink what I do with my groups because they have become less coherent than they used to be. I used to be able to plan one session for each of my four different types of groups, but I can't do that right now - the groups are no longer the same type of kids in each pod. Now they are all scrambled around and it makes it difficult to have any sort of theme or similar session strategies. So, I am back to a different session for every single group which means 21 session strategies without commonalities. This is part of my exhaustion.

Fun, right?

So, I am not sure if I will have any sort of linking theme or idea this week. We will see when I get to work and have to do sessions. Panic is a good spur for creativity, but it adds to the exhaustion.

I have times when I wish that I had a curriculum that I could follow. At other times, I am thrilled that I do not have a curriculum so I can do what I want when I want. I just wish that there was a bit more consistency in my groups these days, but that is the nature of my facility.

What will I do? Well, I will do what I have been doing forever and a day - I will get to work and figure it out. Things will be somewhat strategized and somewhat improvised. I could do things about Presidents and Valentine's Day, but neither of those things make me feel happy or excited.

Time to get the day started with a shower and then a drive to work. We are expecting spring-like temperatures today, so I am going to break out my spring shoes! It's going to be great for the little bit of time that it will happen. I am sure that we still have more winter weather in front of us, but I will enjoy what is happening right now in the moment. I may even sit in the window seat this afternoon during my break from sessions.

It is time to go. See you tomorrow?? We'll see if I am up in enough time.

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