music, therapy, and me

It has started - the #100DayChallenge has begun, and I have finished my first little bit of art for this challenge. I started this challenge last year, went for about 40 days and then stopped. I am trying this again by starting the challenge I abandoned last year right where I left off.  My word of the year is "play," and I chose that word because I have felt that I have over-focused on doing more and more for the past several years. I have come up short for the same past several years - not doing what I state I want to do. As a result, I have been in a cycle of guilt and self-recrimination for all of these years. So, I decided that this year would be a year where I focus on the things that I love to do rather than the things that I feel like I should be doing. I cut out the projects that I am working on yesterday. I started to put one together, forgetting that I want to laminate the covers before I put in the signatures, but that's the way my projects often go, so I plan...

It is Saturday, and I am only interested in sleeping ... and eating right now. I feel guilty when I just nap and eat on my Saturdays, so I try to make something happen on these days. I am getting ready for the start of my #100DayChallenge tomorrow. I may get a jumpstart on that by making a card today, but I might not. I am not really all that inspired to do anything right now. That might change after a nap, but it probably will not. I want to make some journals today. I have been collecting the outer packaging to blu-rays that I purchase, and I want to laminate the packaging and make journals out of those disc covers. I have about eight covers that I have been putting off laminating because I haven't set up the laminating area that I envision, but it is time. I want to get these projects going so I can add them to my Etsy store and, hopefully, sell a couple of them to people out there in the world. Okay. Now I have some direction. I want to get some paper signatures ready to put in...

This year, I am going to try the 100 Day Challenge again. Last year, I made it through 36 days of doing something for the challenge, so I am going to strive to get the entire 100 days this time. I am still trying my TME challenge, so I am hoping to combine the two into one big challenge. For the first part of my challenge, I am going to make a small piece of art on rolodex cards. The second part is a TME challenge. I do these things every once in a while. I set myself challenges and then try to do them. If I do not make it through the challenge, I tend to engage in some self-recrimination, but I am working on that as well - not doing the entire self-recrimination thing. Last year, I made 36 pieces of art. This year, I would like 100 new TMEs, but I will take what I can create as a positive contribution to my music therapy compendium. I started a TME yesterday when I was at work. I started writing up something that my students are doing this week as we explore percussion instruments and...

I have decided to participate (at least, to try to participate) in a #100DayChallenge. There are lots of ways to do this, but I've decided to pair two things together - a creativity exercise with some cleaning. Starting on Wednesday, I will be working towards five minutes of cleaning daily as well as a rolodex doodle thing. What does all this mean? Well, it means that I am going to try my best to focus on the things that I want for myself - a cleaner environment and a routine that includes making art every day. Now, I tend to get pretty excited about these things and then peter out after a couple of weeks. This challenge will last from February 22nd through June 2nd. I have enough stuff to take with me to keep the art part going for the entire time. I can take my rolodex cards with me when I go traveling this season. I have lots of little colored pencils and markers and stickers and things that will travel easily. I will not be able to clean my home for five minutes when I am not a...