music, therapy, and me

Today is the day before one of the biggest things I have attempted solo in my small business journey - the day before a brand new conference! To say that I am thrilled, terrified, and absolutely counting on this experience becoming something that I just do from now on is an understatement. I am hoping that things will go off without a hitch, but I have contingency plans -- just in case! If this was a physical conference where we were going to sit in the same room and do things, then there would be many more things to coordinate, but this is an online conference so there isn't that much to do before things get started tomorrow morning. That is the benefit of doing online conferences, most of the work is done before the conference starts and then you go into monitoring mode. This will be the first conference where I am acting without a group helping out. That is a bit concerning, but like I said, I have contingency plans. This is where being part of the Online Conference for Music Th...

I had lots of energy yesterday - don't know why and REALLY want to replicate that energy for always - so I finished several file folders that were just sitting and waiting for Velcro. That's all that they needed - Velcro on the folders, and they were finished. These are not resources for my students (who I get to work with again, starting today!), because they are just a bit too kid-like, but they will go into my resource room and inventory because they are finished.   I also loaded the dishwasher, went to pick up groceries for this week, read a book, ripped CDs to the computer, alphabetized the CD covers in the case, cooked a bit, made chicken salad with cranberries and almonds, and other things that I have neglected a bit. I am hoping that I will be able to walk when I get home after work, but who knows. I had absolutely no problem with my knees the entire time I was home, but now that I am back at work, I am hobbling around like my knees are 90 years old. I have no idea what...

I have three more weeks before my next intern arrives at the facility to do their training with me and my clients. Three more weeks. That's not much time, especially because it is the end of our regular school year. There are so many things to do before #36 arrives, but most of them have nothing to do with music therapy or the internship program. I have started my "end-of-the-year" post-its with categories of "internship," "Talent Show," "cleaning," and "other."  I was able to knock off a bunch of tasks on Friday - I wanted to rearrange the intern office/storage room to accommodate the new desk. The effort spent on those tasks led to my intense pain on Friday afternoon, but I moved the storage cabinet and the desk where I wanted them to end up. I labeled all sorts of things, and felt like I had made some progress.  This week's planning/prep time will be taken up with Talent Show preparation (so far, no need to move the drum set ...

Here it is, Sunday again, and I haven't cracked a book to talk about. I did, however, continue a course on Music Education and Special Needs from Berklee yesterday. While most of the information covered yesterday did not have any sort of relevance to my life as a music therapist, I am working on a concept of preparing my students for any future music education experiences that they may have. During the course that I am taking, we are talking about how to prepare as music educators for persons with differing ability levels. I have a bit of a different perspective since I meet kids but not music educators. For this course, I am completing two projects. The first is a communication binder for my clients to use during group and individual music therapy sessions. It will include some activity choices, instrument choices, general communication tools (BIG yes/no), and some music therapy specific choice cards. I am getting ready to do the line drawings for the activity choices and the inst...

I want to do so many things that I just can't seem to start or finish. It is somewhat disheartening to constantly have the ideas but not the resources (time being the biggest resource that I want to have and do not use wisely) to do all the things on my list of to-do's. So, I keep writing my ideas down and chip away at all the ideas every once in a while. I would like to have an income that allows me to stay at home and accomplish all these ideas, but I didn't win either of the large lottery amounts this week (I didn't even get a ticket), so I will head back into my full-time and part-time jobs to work for my living and try to scrape some time and interest into getting some of those ideas off the page and into reality. Perhaps I should spend some of my money to buy an occasional lottery ticket. There is just something about dreaming that is only satisfying to a point - after that, you need to put your dreams into a bit of reality. One thing that I have managed to bring ...

I am rearranging my music library yet again. This is a seemingly never-ending task that seems to just keep on going and going no matter how much I work on it. I've noticed that there are many tasks in my life that are like this one - never-ending. One of my friends stated recently that she felt that she had to revise her employee policies after every two therapists that she hired. Never-ending task. I find that my policies and assignments and ways of being a supervisor change with each intern. I make it a point to sit down and think about what has gone right and what has been challenging during each intern's time with me. I adjust what needs to be adjusted and then I go into the next intern's training with some new ideas. For me, music therapy organization is a never-ending task. I have a system that works for me pretty well, at the moment. I use different categories and colors to help me organize. For example, at the moment, I have a box full of typical pediatric rhy...

I've been listening to lots of music lately. I left the iPod at work, so I decided to take some CDs, and I randomly popped in some Haydn. My first thought, "Okay, at least it isn't rap." My second thought, "Ooh, I could say this during my presentation." I talked to myself the entire way to work - all centered around my upcoming presentations, and I generated several new ideas! This led me into remembering the foundations of my music therapy theory. Here's the foundational thought that is my current focus - music is motivating. By listening to something that was inherently familiar to me, and not something that intruded too much, I was able to create some new ideas. Music engaged my brain and allowed synapses to interact in ways that they hadn't in quite some time. I had ideas and the music spurred my presentation practice. Well, duh, right? One of the presenters that spoke at last week's Online Conference for Music Therapy reminded me t...

I dragged myself to work last Friday, probably before I should have, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I am out of official sick time. Second, it was a non-therapy day where I could hole up in my office and work, and third, I needed to straighten my office area so an intern applicant could fit, stretch out legs, and engage in an interview. It took me all day to work on my office space, what with in between fatigue episodes and other tasks that popped up, but my office looks pretty good right now (well, compared to how it looked before!). I have faced a fact in my life that is pretty much part of everything. I am not a "neat" person. Another fact about is that I like stuff, and I want that stuff near me for when I need it. At the same time, though, I crave minimalism and fantasize about white walls and labelled drawers and cabinets. It's an interesting dichotomy to me and one that I'm not able to achieve because, well, stuff. (Did I mention how much I like s...

I had every intention of reading the next chapter in my current music therapy reading yesterday, but I didn't get that done. I did finish one prayer shawl, start another, write my thank you notes to my family members, go shopping for groceries and marked down holiday stuff, blog, and watch lots of television. I swear, I will get back into that reading - I am very interested in how it all turns out - but I am going to take my time. Today, however, I already have a long to-do list. I will be going to my church job to celebrate Epiphany (I know, it was yesterday, but we haven't spoken about it yet), and then I'll come home to make some cards for our War game next week. After that, I am going to see The Last Jedi again. We'll see if I can make it through the movie without crying this time around, but I am taking my tissues just in case. At some point, I will start to read my book again. I am interested in learning more about Winnicott's theories of psychology and h...