music, therapy, and me

I didn't get much time to write this morning, so I am making it up to myself by writing another post on this early weekend hour. The first week of the new year is almost over, and MY ROOM IS FINISHED!! It only took me 2 weeks... Oh, I feel the need to say that again. MY ROOM IS FINISHED! I am feeling things that I haven't felt in a long time. I am feeling happy. I am feeling that I can move. I am feeling like I have enough space to do the things that I have wanted to do with my clients but haven't been able to do because we had no personal space available. That isn't a problem any more! Do you ever feel like you are trapped? In a dead-end job? In a bad relationship? In a car sitting in the middle of the freeway? I do, and it is the most frustrating experience that I have (and it happens on a pretty regular basis). My last music therapy environment felt like a trap. It was dark, small, and irregular in shape (the only wall was a curved wall - bounced sound a...

I have tried to start this post several times today. I was sitting in my parents' family room, next to my sister, trying to write something that would represent what I feel on the brink between the old and new years. It just wasn't coming then. I feel that it is coming now - kinda like how nausea indicates that something unpleasant is happening - I hope this isn't that unpleasant, but no promises. 2016 was difficult for many of us in the world. I faced big personal and professional challenges and disappointments. Others lost parents, children, loved ones. There were shootings, hateful actions towards others, and a general feeling of disconnection with many different things including government and each other. We lost many icons in the world of entertainment. Things did not seem to go as planned for many of us out here in the world. 2016 is going to be over pretty soon, for all of us. 2017 holds the best gift of all - an uncertain future. Who knows what the world will ...

This past weekend was a good one. We celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday with a day off, and I spent it at home. Now, I'd like to tell you that I spent time in contemplation of the wonderful man who we were celebrating, but I didn't. I opted to do a bunch of non-work related work and take a nap instead. The upshot of the three-day weekend was returning to work feeling relaxed and ready to do what needed to be done yesterday. It was a good feeling to be heading into work feeling happy. I awoke this morning at 3:30am. This seems to be my typical pattern lately. Rather than grumbling and trying to sleep more, I laid in bed thinking and then started the day. Now, at 5:07am, I have finished all of my OCMT 2014 correspondence, reviewed all of my emails, spent some time playing on social media, and am now blogging.  Today, we have a classroom that will be going on a field trip during their music therapy time. So, an extra hour for us (myself and both inters) to fill durin...