music, therapy, and me

These are not happy times in my country. There are riots happening in various parts of the territory and people are engaged in a pissing contest about who is right and who is wrong and who has what power and who will bend first. I am sinking under the weight of it all. I strive to be a good person. I strive to be inclusive and I strive to focus on each person as a unique and special person who offers so much to the world. I am a person of privilege, and I acknowledge that fact whenever I write about situations where biases are prevalent and that cause friction. I cannot and will never understand the situations that others live in and through every day. I know this, and I find a bit of shame in the fact that anyone in this world is treated with less than compassion in every single interaction with every single person. I tend to internalize this shame and it is fed by constant triggers from social media and the outrage of others. I feel powerless when it comes to speaking out about gende...

Yesterday was a busy day. I had an intern applicant visit, a mid-term evaluation, and the start of my other intern's time as therapist for her caseload. I felt like I was running around all day, shifting my attention from one thing to another in a rapid manner. Once I got home, I found out that the cat was having some issues, so I had to figure out what was going on. I forgot about a video challenge that I had signed up for, so I had to figure that out. The first camera made my chin look all fuzzy and blurry, so I recorded myself several different times. Everything seemed to be all consuming (even though it was NOT so), and I just had to do everything because these things needed to be done (emphasis is my own - not something placed on me by anyone else). So, I ran from thing to thing and had to devote my attention to the task at hand each time there was a task at hand. I wish I had remembered this particular song last night as I was trying to quiet my body and my brain. I lov...

This is a busy week. I have already gone through two intern applicant interviews, the end of registration for OCMT 2018, and still have the conference to go. In addition to all that, I'm still fighting the aftereffects of the flu I had last week, and I have my full schedule. I am behind in my documentation for the past week, and I am exhausted. Ah, the joys of being a busy therapist and human being! This year is a bit different from years past. I am not as stressed by this week as I've been in years past. This is primarily due to the team that I work with - they are on top of things, and we seem to be working like a well-oiled engine. I am feeling that things are working well, and I have few of the niggling little doubts that I usually have that I am missing something...something important. I am trying to make this week as easy as possible. I've heated up prepared meals rather than cooking. I'm going to sleep when I want to go to sleep (sometimes I've been asleep ...

Yesterday was a loud day, both inside and outside the music therapy room. Everyone was screaming, oh, and urinating. I'm not sure that the two behaviors were related as those who urinated were not around the ones who were screaming, but those two things do not usually coincide. It's been a long half of the week. One of the situations would have been completely avoided had the lead classroom aide followed the school rules rather than making up her own rules. She told her students that they could shop in the student store after their music therapy session. I told them that they could not because the store was closed. BAM! Instant riot. This situation is one that is happening more and more with staff members lately. They think that they can interrupt what is happening in my room to get into the store. They are wrong. I am standing my ground on this one (with the support of the principal) and not allowing people to just come in whenever. After yesterday's riot, I will be in...

It's no secret that part of my work life is that of church musician and Director of Music. I work for a small, rural, Methodist church in between two major cities in my state, and I have been there for many years. It is a break from music therapy but is still music-related and offers a place for performance as well as spiritual replenishment for me and others. One of the traditions that I love comes in several of our rituals that happen during worship. The pastor greets us with the phrase, "Peace be with you." We respond with, "And also with you." I love that greeting and find that it has so many different applications, especially outside the walls of the church. Today, I want to offer that phrase to all of you. Peace be with you. I've been surrounded by conflict and negativity lately. It's happening on the radio, in social media, in my own brain as things are rapidly changing. People that I know pretty well seem to be wrapped up in continuing ...