music, therapy, and me

It is really nice when you can find something that simultaneously makes you giggle and soothes your raw emotions. If you are an employee of a not-for-profit agency, this post is definitely for you! If you are someone who volunteers lots of time for organizations and agencies and then gets slapped for doing the job you were doing, some of the statements in this blog post will resonate. Enjoy!! http://nonprofitwithballs.com/2016/01/welcome-back-to-work-you-sexy-jedi-unicorn/

One of my favorite authors, Sandra Boynton , states that today, November 20th, is Absurdity Day! This makes me very, very happy! My life is a festival of absurdity. It stems from my job and my personality, I think. What else would you call an existence that leads a person from deep discussions about the future of music therapy and then goes into a rousing chorus of On Top of Spaghetti complete with ukulele chorus? I love both of these lives. I love the ability to go from one role to another in the blink of an eye. It is the nature of the job. While I am singing On Top of Spaghetti and being silly with my clients, I am also spending time in the other side of the job - the analytical side. I am looking to see which of my clients is engaging in the song and which are not. I am adjusting my music to accommodate differences in client interaction. I am slowing down to encourage clients to coordinate their oral-motor mechanisms and to be able to sing. I am overemphasizing the absurdity ...

I love my clients. I love my clients. I love my clients. Sometimes it takes a mantra to remind myself that I really do have a form of love for each and every one of the developing humans that walk into my music therapy room. This form of love helps me remember important things like, "Even when they are kicking or biting me, they are still learning a valuable lesson if I keep my actions kind, calm, and consistent," or "I cannot believe this is happening right now. I am the adult in this situation, and I will remain calm." What could happen you may ask? Every day is an adventure when you work with other people. I don't care if you are working in an office building, a hospital, or in a school like me - every interaction with another human is an adventure. I bring my part of every interaction, but the other side of the interaction is completely up in the air and dependent upon the other human. That's what makes interacting with others an adventure. My ...

It's the time of year where most of us here in the states get to fall back one hour. This is a wonderful time as it gives us a chance to get an extra hour of sleep and to reset our internal clocks to be in sync with the earth's rotation a bit more than we are during the summer. I love this time of year and really dread moving to Daylight Savings in the Spring. Today' song is directed towards choir members and can be found here . There is also a spring version, and I'm sure I'll post a link to that one next year when we [shudder] spring forward yet again... Here is a YouTube video of a guy singing the song. I'm so very sorry for the pitch, but at least he's out there trying his best. Yipes. Anyway, the song itself is based on a hymn composed in 1907 by John Hughes. The words are by Dean McIntyre and were written in 1995. I find the song a bit tongue-in-cheek, but they give me a giggle every time I read them, so enjoy!! Sorry for the lack of diagram...

So, you may have read through my rant about not liking the music saturation that pervades the months of October through December. Now, the music that is the exception to my rule of no music (outside of work, of course )... John Denver and the Muppets This album of music just warms my heart in ways that no other seasonal music does or can. I love these songs, mainly because I grew up with the Muppets and have ALWAYS loved John Denver. This album puts me right into the mood of the holiday season, no matter where I am, what I am doing, or who I am with at the moment. There aren't too many people out there (that I've found, anyway) that share my enthusiasm for this collection of songs, but I still love them all! It is difficult for me to pick my favorite song, but here I go... Best for a giggle - Twelve Days of Christmas (especially Miss Piggy!) The ones that make me cry - Noel: Christmas Eve 1913, When the River Meets the Sea, and Silent Night The others are a...

Yesterday, I was in a session with my kids with the most severe medical concerns associated with their disabilities. We were listening to a cheesy holiday dance mix CD and playing instruments. One of my young men, I'll call him "H," was engaging in his typical vocalizations and word approximations. He was trying very hard to say something to me - two syllables long and repetitive, but not completely the same each time. I echoed his sounds, but that was not enough. Finally, taking pity on me and having the advantage of being around his sounds more than me, a staff member asked him if he was saying, "Santa?" He clapped that he was. The sound play continued with him changing and adapting his sounds all the time. At one time, I was not sure that he was still saying, "Santa," so I echoed, "AFLAC??" He started to speak and then dissolved into giggles. His laughing was contagious and spread to his peers. Can't tell me that these kids are r...

Yesterday, I called my sister for a chat. I found her in the midst of a pain crisis - this happens quite a bit with my family. We all have strange aches and pains that are not easily explained by modern medicine. It is not unusual for one of the members of my family to be the topic of an article dedicated to strange things...anyway... My sister and I were talking about things just strange and typical for us when she mentioned an old record we used to listen to when we were kids. Feeling helpless to help her pain, I decided to see if I could do something for her, so I went to the computer. Lo and behold, iTunes had the album I was looking for, so I downloaded it and made a CD (which will be going to the mailbox to her shortly). "The album," you may be asking? Why, it's Mickey Mouse Disco, of course! I feel the guffaws starting now, but this record made a pretty big impact on the musical lives of my brother, my sister, and me. Imagine, if you will, three kids betwee...

Last night, my Dad suggested that I spend my day singing every patriotic song that I know...all day long. Now, I did not think that this idea was a good one (I kinda like my quiet time at home), but my thoughts did move towards an incident that happened in a patriotic setting a long time ago. My best friend, Maryann, and I were the oldest Girl Scouts in our town. We were sophomores in high school, a bit rebellious when it came to our style of Scouting, and didn't really care what others thought about us being scouts at the advanced age of 15. We went camping with about 200 other scouts from our area. Maryann and I were standing next to each other during the flag-raising ceremony looking out over a ring of scouts from ages 6-15 (us), all acting very solemn. The tradition for flag ceremonies often included a song, and this ceremony was no different. The caller announced that we would sing "God Bless America." Maryann and I started singing enthusiastically but found ou...

I enjoy being silly. There is something quite liberating about acting like a fool on purpose. To that end, I write silly songs to use with my clients. There's a Pickle on my Head - This pickle!! Forgive a little cross-promotion here, but I have published a therapeutic music experience (TME) titled There's A Pickle on my Head . Here is a link to my website and the Ideas and Experiences page. (Click the word link above). This song is just supposed to be silly. Of course, if clients also have a chance to work on body part identification or social awareness, that is just a happy accident, right? Right! This is just one of the new songs and ideas that have arrived lately due to my attempts to jump start my creative brain (which has been dormant lately). Unlike the Flamingo Flop , which was directly inspired by one of my interns who has been singing about the pink birds, this one had no clear inspiration. It just popped into my head during office time. Then, the melody...

There is nothing better for me than the moment when a kid starts to giggle in music therapy. Last Wednesday, I was faced with a dilemma. There were 8 kids in the music room between the ages of 8-14 years, we had finished my entire plan for the day, and we still had 15 minutes left of music therapy. I was mentally flipping through my bag of tricks to see if I could find ANYTHING to keep these students occupied as they started to show signs of disengaging from me. Yikes! Quickly I asked them to raise their hands in an attempt to reengage their attention to me and to musical elements. We did a quick stretch and then, BRAINSTORM! I showed them how conductors control the music of their ensembles and then allowed them to direct me. One person was the conductor and another person chose the song for me to play. Once they figured out that I would start and stop on cue, the giggles started. It was contagious. The first student didn't know what was going to happen, so she started of...