music, therapy, and me

I am learning. It has been a very long and pervasive struggle, but I am learning that I do not have to respond to anyone or any particular thought at any time. I do not have to put my opinions into contentious situations or conversations where there is no benefit to me or to others. I will not contribute to the noise that is already present in our lives. At the moment, I am watching a couple of conversation themes. There is a huge disconnect between people looking for music therapy jobs and people hiring music therapists for jobs. I have to be honest, I tend to side with the business owners in this particular debate. Maybe it is because I am an old music therapist, but I do not feel that brand new music therapists deserve the type of salary that I now earn - that seems to be the level that this generation is seeking. Without experience. Without understanding how music works on a deeper level. Without being willing to comply with requests from supervisors or work the schedules assigned....

Yesterday, our COTA at work bops into the music therapy room to tell me that she wants the space and will be talking to the principal about me moving to another room. I was flummoxed and upset. I have been asking for alternative plans to the music therapy room (which is brand new and inadequate for what I do) during the entire planning, construction, and moving process. Each time, I've been told things like, "You'll get used to your strangely shaped room." "We don't want to move you to that space since we might need to use it as a classroom and then you'd have to move." [That's what I was told for a room just like the room that the COTA wants me to take.] "We're not going to move the music therapy room again. This space is the space that you have. Get used to it!" Know what? All of a sudden, I'm being asked to move... again... to another space... to accommodate the needs of someone else. I know I am spoiled. I know that t...