music, therapy, and me

I get to escape to my happy place today and finish up a whole bunch of file folder activities for one of our teachers. I ran out of Velcro on Wednesday evening, so I couldn't finish then, but I have replenished my stash and am ready to go! This is truly something that I enjoy. I like taking paper and turning it into activities of various kinds. My joy comes in the making of such things. I tend to get a bit distressed when I watch people using those things that I have crafted with my hands. So, it is easier for me to make multiple copies and send them out into the world rather than make things for my clients to use. That's where the Pristine Folder comes in. For every project that I make for my music therapy sessions, I make one that lives within a filing cabinet. It does not get touched by hands other than mine because I can take it when folders are ripped or crumpled knowing that there is one that is picture perfect - Pinterest Perfect - safely tucked away. With the folders I ...

It is Monday again, and I am watching a British sewing show as I am sitting here. There is a stack of file folders waiting lamination, but I am not really all that interested in laminating at the moment. I could get through the stack pretty quickly, but I think I will wait until this afternoon to get this part of my project finished. Laminating folders is a good task when my brain and body are tired. I can just sit, watch television, and feed folders through the laminating machine. These folders are not for me. They are not something I will use in my sessions at my current facility. They are for a teacher who has specific goals for these folders. One of the things that I do during my planning/preparation time at work is make these things for others. So, I have a stack of large safety signs that I am making in large and mini versions. When I am making visuals, I always try to make them in file folder size and both larger than that and smaller than that as well. My thinking behind having...

Today is the first, official day of my Fall Break, and the second day of being at home. Since everyone finished their progress reports, we were able to work from home yesterday, and I DID! I started off the day with some blogging (before work hours, of course!), and then followed up with some TPT exploration as I worked on a list of things to include in my next visual aid creation. I started with looking to see what sorts of music schedules are out there, and there aren't many. I remembered that I had purchased one from TPT that merged music education with special education, so I went back into my purchases and found all sorts of things that I already own. That started a marathon printing session, and while printing, I also remembered that I wanted to find some different language "goodbye" phrases to go with my "hello" phrases. I ended up spending $13.30 for four different resources that I will print out when I get to work. After the printing was finished, I sta...

Back in January of 2020, I was getting ready for something that I never thought I could do - an exhibition table at the Midwestern Regional Conference. I was producing file folders, small books and keychains, digital links, and several copies of my books to take with me to Lincoln, Nebraska for the conference. I was excited to figure out how to do this part of the job of a music therapy creator when BAM! Well, you know what happened in March of 2020, so I won't dwell. Since that time, I have cooled off with my production habits. I have focused on making things that I could use in my clinic, and those things have not often been original files. I have focused on making things from other creators and have not done as much as I would like on my own. Yesterday, I spent about an hour to two (I didn't really keep track) preparing 80 file folders to use to make visual aids. I trimmed off the flaps on the side so the folders will fit in my laminating pouches, and then I affixed stickers...

I have just had an epiphany about something that has been churning around in the back of my mind for a long time. I want to make myself a junk journal to use. Now, if you read this blog regularly, you know that one of the things that I love doing (that is not music therapy) is making books from scratch. I have made a bunch of books and have either sent them out to friends (let me know if you want one!) or listed them on Etsy (where they do not sell). I like making books, but I don't really use them as my planners or things like that. I made one last March when I was at home with my Mom and my Sister, and I am using that one as a trip journal. It has been really fun to add things to that book, so I am thinking about making another one for me to use. I just came up with the theme for this junk journal about three minutes ago and just before I started to write this post. I decided I would make this journal on the theme of "Things I Love." So, something else that you probably...

One of the things that I like about doing these looks back into topics I wrote about before is that I have the advantage of hindsight to allow me to think through the happenings of those days. Today's randomly selected glimpse back into the past comes to us from March 3, 2020 - ten days before the world closed due to COVID. This was a chance to show off some of the work that I do and offer out there in the world for music therapists and others to get for themselves.  Now, I am not really good at advertising myself very well. In March 2020, I was planning on having my first exhibition at the Midwestern Regional conference, but that plan crashed when the world closed. I still have not had an exhibit at a conference. This past year was the first time I went to a live conference, and I was not ready to try again. My next opportunity will be in 2025, and I do want to try to have an exhibit at that point. I love making things for others to use for inspiration, and I want people to acces...

I have been working on a stack of things to give away. As you know, being a reader of this particular blog, I love making things to use in my music therapy practice. One of the things that I really like is making things to send out into the world to have other people use them in their music therapy practices. I like making things and would really like to give them to other people more regularly. Today is the first day of my 2021 giveaway, and here are the details!! Read until the end to get the link to the entry form... So, I have made several of my generic file folders that I have used with my clients since I've developed them. There are things that can be used with clients from all age ranges, all goal areas, and all sorts of other types of situations. Each one of my original file folders includes either a therapeutic music experience to go along with it or an original song. All of these are included in the prize packet. There are eight file folder activities included in this pri...

It really shouldn't be much of a surprise that I have a box for my making process - making visual aids, that is! At the moment, I have the pieces of my current project (almost ready for Teachers Pay Teachers store release, by the way) in the box, ready to go with all the materials I need to put together the project. I hope to have pictures taken by this afternoon so I can get it ready for release. My "maker" box for visual aids (I have several different sets of things for different types of projects - I have a "composing" box, for example...) is a recycled small pizza box from my current favorite pizza place. They offer pasta in containers within these small cardboard boxes which seems like a waste to me, except for the fact that these boxes are PERFECT for storing sets of materials for making different things. I am getting ready to set up one box for starting crochet projects - they are the perfect size to fit in my current storage, and the hooks will fit w...

It is Friday again. Tomorrow is my day of rest. I have to take the cat to the vet, go to my local store to get my allergy medications, and grocery shop for the week. After that, I have lots of work to do to catch up with my current business challenges - I got behind the last several evenings. But, today is Friday, so it is time to focus on some fun things. This week, we have been hosting a prospective intern and using drums to foster community, make some noise, and to have some fun. We have all been stressed by various illnesses, folks not feeling well, and lots of folks trying to sleep, so getting up and moving was the best option for us all this week! We threw things at drums. We make SO much noise! It was exhilarating!! My favorite part was the hand massages I got when I placed my hands about an inch off the top of the gathering drums' heads while kids were drumming - that felt SO good on my tired bodies. I'd like a way to get that sort of sonic massage over my entire bo...

My mother is coming for a visit in 9 days. This completely changes all of my plans for my break as she will arrive smack dab in the middle of my time off and will be staying for exactly half of my time off. I am trying my best to get excited about her visit, but I am currently stuck in resentment and panic mode. I am a planner, and I've been planning this extended stretch of time by myself for a long time now. Having to be host is not at all what I wanted in my only long break in eight years, but it is what it is, so I am going to try to find the positives in this entire situation...but I can't sit for long - I have to clean.  Okay - the first part of the house is cleared out a bit. I addressed the space between my desk and the hallway. I often find that I have to do this type of task in bursts - 30 minutes when I work on cleaning, and 30 minutes when I work on something else...something like blogging...or Teachers Pay Teachers files (by the way, I posted my second file ...

I think I may be officially sick now. I am dreaming, remembering my dreams, and dreaming about putting together file folder activities for my clients. These things don't happen usually - most of the time, I don't remember my dreams at all - but the topic of my dreams doesn't really surprise me. I've been thinking about file folders lots and lots, and apparently my brain continues to think about them while I am sleeping. This is my last official day of break (I've never counted weekends as vacation time), and I have made some progress towards my goals. Specifically, I can now walk from point A to point B on vacuumed carpet. Things are not put all away, but I have made progress there as well. My mother may be coming for a visit, so my cleaning and clearing will be accelerated if she does indeed brave the wilds of Kansas in August. I will need a place for her to sleep, so things will have to leave. I also accomplished lots of professional goals this past week. I st...

It is Monday, and I'm in the mood to make something, so here is a post about taking a file folder idea and making it into a therapeutic music experience (TME). I feel very strongly that the materials that I use in my clinic have some sort of need for music in order to be used in music therapy. I don't really feel that just adding a song to an existing something (idea, visual aid, etc.) is really music therapy, but there's a place for the use of music in that manner. I want the music to drive the activity, not just be an accompaniment. I often wonder if I am the only person who feels this way, but then I re-read Bruscia's Defining Music Therapy and know that I am not alone. I often find really cool, free file folder kits on various social media sites, and I take advantage by downloading and making them into folders. It is hard to resist, especially when things are free. I then either put those folders into my storage areas or figure out some way to incorporate...

You know me, I like to make things. I sat down on Saturday in the midst of my paper crafting materials, and tried to make something new. I had no idea what I would make when I sat down, but I did have fun coming up with an idea.  I decided to use my mini file folders for this project. I purchased a whole slew of folders several years ago when they arrived at the Dollar Tree (I love dollar stores!!), and I've used them for many projects. My mom, a retired Occupational Therapist, said that her clients would complete a mini file folder without complaint but would complain about having to do a big folder. I made sure that there were just as many tasks to do on the mini folders as on the big folders when I made them for her and for her clients, but the lack of complaints continued. Her clients seemed to think that they were getting away with doing less work when they had a mini folder. As you can see, the mini folders are about the size of a 4X6 card and are smaller than a re...

This weekend, I spent some time making things. I didn't make as much as I had planned to (because that's the way things always go with planning, I've found!), but I started some ideas and finished some others. When I am in a creation mood, I usually reach for my file folders. I could go on and on about the benefits of file folders (and I usually do, if given the time), but I will spare you this time. Anyway, I felt like trying something different, so I started to work. First step? Finding an idea. I spend lots of time with my clients attempting to show them about emotions and practicing emotional regulation. I try through music, through games, through talk, and we always need more and more. So, I made something to supplement what I want us to do together - a file folder game!! So, here's what I made. I have a color-coding system for my folders so I can easily grab what I want during sessions. Blue is the color for emotional/behavioral TMEs. I used a blue...

Making things is something that I do to keep myself moving forward. I make lots of things - crocheted things, painted things, music things, and paper things. Some of the things that I make are just for me, but others are for my clients. This is a post about making paper things for my clients. My fun with paper often starts with an idea for a therapeutic music experience. I have a rule that I have to come up with six different things to do with a material or instrument or visual aid before I can store it in my cabinets in my music therapy room. This rule keeps me from jamming things into every single corner of my workspace (because I would DEFINITELY be doing that if I didn't have my rule...). So, in order to keep something, I have to figure out ways to use the something with my clients. I like making things with paper because the end result is not very expensive to produce. The time that I take to make something is time for self-care - I find paper crafting to be very relaxin...