music, therapy, and me

Trees are putting out pollen in my corner of the world, so I am not feeling well at all. Runny nose, hoarse voice, stuffy head, strange cough - you name it, I have it right now. I am pretty miserable, but off to work I go. I don't want to go. I don't want to sing to others today, I just want to sleep, but I have to get going. Fortunately, I have plans for this sort of thing. This week's plan is to use Audacity a bit, but I might just abandon all of that in favor of videos on the Promethean board or karaoke with the microphones. Or instrument JINGO (yep, you heard that right - JINGO) - things that help me run groups without having to be very musical. I always feel like this type of session is a cop out, but I also need to have these contingency plans for the weeks where I am out of commission due to the allergens present where I live. I am miserable, and making music on top of the symptoms of hay fever is not good for me or for my kids. There are times when self-care has to ...

Today is the 32nd anniversary of starting my life as a music therapy professional. On this date back in 1993 (in the late part of the 20th century), I finished my internship at the Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies in Phoenix, Arizona and officially became a music therapist! It has been an interesting life, being a music therapist for over three decades. I am glad that I am still able to do something that I love. I hope to continue to do this work for another couple of decades. I have had four full-time jobs and many, MANY part-time jobs in the last 32 years. I have worked as an administrator (didn't like it back then), a recreation programmer, a rehabilitation (music) therapist, a recreation specialist, and a music therapist. I have been a church music director, a part-time temp doing filing work for an ambulance company, a music therapy contractor, part of a not-for-profit board of directors, a content creator, an author, a professional supervisor, and lots of other small job...

I have had a nagging headache for the past several weeks. It comes and goes but is usually sinus in nature and gets better when I change my head position and all that. Now, I am allergy-prone. I am allergic to all sorts of strange things that other people don't seem to react to (and will argue that I am not allergic to those things - like they know my body better than I do - snort!). I have some sniffles and some coughing that happens occasionally as well. The problem? This is usually when my allergies get pretty bad and turn into pneumonia, so I am living in a world where I cannot tell if I am COVID sick or allergy sick. I have been fully vaccinated and boostered. My students are going through COVID right now and have been since we returned to school two weeks ago. Local school districts (but not mine) are closing down because there aren't enough healthy teachers to teach students. We had 14 of our 26 day students gone yesterday because schools were shut and kids have active C...

It is time for my mini-break, and my bass allergy voice has arrived, right on schedule! I am currently sitting upright (this is taking LOTS of effort), in my pajamas because the cat insisted on being fed. I took a half dose of the heavy-duty medications last night, and it has thrown me into my acclimatization pattern - drowsiness, dizziness, and difficulty with coordination. I am having a bit of difficulty with my fine motor coordination to type things - I've got all the letters, but they are NOT in the right order. I am having to backspace type quite a bit this morning, but that's what this day is all about - getting so I can breathe clearly again - AKA, the heavy duty medications!! One of my morning routine elements is a daily happiness focus on my personal Facebook page. I try really hard to find something to be happy about, even on the days when happiness is elusive to me. It is a practice that I've done for a bit over a year now, and I think it has helped me be a bit...

There was a strong scent of strawberries in the air in the education wing yesterday. I had to travel down there three times yesterday, and this morning I woke up with a goopy eye - sure sign that that scent was put into the air by some sort of aerosol - one of the things that others can use that causes me to have an allergic reaction. I get allergic pink eye when I'm around things sprayed in the air - air fresheners are a double whammy because I also have scent-induced asthma in addition to my eye reactions. So, I am heading into classrooms to do music therapy where I am supposed to breathe so I can sing, and I can't because someone else decided to spray stuff all over the environment. I'm currently coughing up a storm and am only able to see out of half of my head because of the goop. It is time for a gentle reminder to others that scents are not the best thing to share. Everyone has excuses for why they need to add things to the air that we all breathe. I understand t...

It is Friday again. The wind is blowing from the east (it seems). It is getting really hot out here - one thermometer said 95 degrees Fahrenheit and the other one on my way home said 102 degrees. My allergies are horrible as things are blooming, growing, flourishing, and blowing around. I am on every single medication that I take, and my nose is STILL running, I am hoarse, and I cannot take a full breath without coughing, sneezing, or THE MOST FUN OF ALL doing both at the same time. Today is a day off from work. That's a good thing. I am sitting here, in pajamas, getting ready for a day of nothing. It is also payday, so I will pay my bills, but that's all I have to do. I can sleep all day, if I want to. I want to do a paint pouring project (my first ever) today, so that's something that I will try as I am in between naps. On one of my social media posts, I saw a job post for a part-time music therapist at the facility where I did my music therapy internship. I interview...