Make It Monday: Creativity Camp Aftermath

The second ever (and hopefully, the first annual) Creativity Camp by musictherapyworks.com is now finished!!

I am exhausted, but I feel good about what we accomplished this weekend. I have a BUNCH of new projects that are finished that I was able to complete in the 8 hours we were together, and the pile is growing as I get more inspiration from the campers' projects.

That is the best thing about doing creative professional development workshops with and for music therapists - the expansion of ideas based on a similar format.

I have done this type of workshop at regional conferences twice now, and this was the second online version of making things that I have finished. I think this will become a yearly workshop that I run from here at home. I have TONS of ideas that I enjoy sharing as starting points, so why not??

Currently, all of the cleaning that I did in preparation is in shambles. One of the problems that happens when creating is that there are messes that occur. While all of my finished projects are safely tucked away in their own storage solutions, I tossed the examples that I made (way back in 2005 and 2007) on the floor rather than taking time during the presentation to place them back into the box from whence they came. That is a task for today. While I am putting the older files back into the box, I will add the new files into the storage - with color-coded labels, of course!!

I found my older games in my box. Did you know that clear Contact paper starts to crack after 21 years of use? I know that now. Another reason to have laminators instead of having to use Contact paper (which wrinkles as soon as I look at it!).

So, we made board games. choice boards, lyric scramble/structuring folders, monster faces, fill-in-the-blank songwriting folders, and I added a bonus file that uses D and D dice to guide songwriting processes. It was fun to hear how other people would use the templates to make visuals that are appropriate for their clients. I love hearing adaptations from other therapists, and that is what makes times and courses like this just so rejuvenating for me. Let's be completely honest here, I do courses like this because it is what I need as a therapist - a place where I can talk about how I would use the things that I have and ways to make visuals into therapeutic music experiences that fit my clients. I have always figured that if I was looking for something in my professional development journey, then others would benefit as well, and I have always wanted more songwriting, composition, and creative expression CMTEs in my life. So, now I offer those to like-minded music therapists as often as possible.

Now that Creativity Camp is finished for the summer, I can turn my attention to my other projects.

One of those projects will include sending out some of the visual aids that I have created and continue to create here at home. I will launch my subscription box by August 5th! It will be October themed - there will be five physical boxes available for sale and digital subscriptions available as well. August 5th is the release date, so stay tuned for that!

Also, we have a conference coming up. Details are on the website here. That conference happens in 19 days and will be adolescent-centered. I have some presentations to prepare for that conference. It is time to market it a bit more than I have already.

It is now 8:20 in the morning, and I still need to coordinate my to-do list for today and the rest of the week. Blogging is finished, but there is so much more to do! See you tomorrow for TME Tuesday.

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