music, therapy, and me

I am leaving home - probably for the last time - to travel across our country via car. I have significantly more stuff in my car than I did when I traveled towards this destination, and that is making me laugh. I have about five new toy xylophones to add to my collection of toy xylophones. I have a bag and a box of turn of the 20th century antique sheet music. I bought a cookbook, two books on lettering styles, and lots of fiction to add to my collection. My sister and my mother (AKA my enablers) gifted me with a set of colorful Lummi sticks (think smooth rhythm sticks that people use to make rhythmic patterns including tossing to one another. I am taking home all of my father's Echo dots (they creep my family out), a speaker set that I gifted to him before he died (never opened and made him cry), his robot vacuum (which also creeps Mom out but that I think she would love if she actually tried it), a new laptop (which my business bought when my Chromebook gave up the ghost), all so...

I am spending this week with my mother and her best friend. They have known each other since they were 3, and since they are in their early 80's now, they have decades upon decades of friendship to go through. Aunt Mary has not lived near my mother since they were 18, but it takes no time at all for them to fall back into old routines, Girl Scout songs, "remember this?" discussions, and inside jokes. We came on this trip so Mom and Aunt Mary could see each other again. Mom is in the season of life where her friends are disappearing into their mortality or into memory care facilities. She is losing them and does not know how to get back into touch with many of her friends from high school and college. Aunt Mary is not one of those friends, but her husband passed away this year. It was important for us to see her rather than just relying on emails.  So, Mom and I arrived early on Monday morning and have been spending the days with Aunt Mary. I leave after dinner and head to...

Good morning, all, from a quiet-ish hotel room where I spent the night away from my mother and her best friend. We flew to the East coast on Sunday, drove to her friend's house yesterday, and will be going to the lake house to visit one of her stepkids today. Tomorrow will be some shopping and then we will go to a church service at her community facility. After we finish the trip, we will head out to visit my aunt and uncle before heading back to the West coast. I will stay for another week and then start the journey back to my home to figure out what I am going to do about money. In the midst of all of these plans, I have been offered a job interview for a position out west, so there are lots of things happening out here... Right now, I need to take a shower, go down and eat breakfast, and then prepare myself for yet another trip performance. It is interesting how much energy it takes to travel, but I do enjoy it. Seeing "Aunt Mary" has been good for Mom and for me. She ...

I am currently about 900 miles away from home, sitting in a hotel room, and waiting for enough time to pass so I can get the complementary breakfast that is offered. Why? You may ask? Well, my mother wants to see her best friend, my sister wants me to visit, and I have little to no time constraints at the moment. So, I am hurtling towards my family at speeds of up to 85 mph in order to get there, get on a plane, fly back across the country, and visit someone that has been my mother's best friend since kindergarten. That's why, This is definitely a nostalgia break, for sure. My mother's friend is impressed at how I put together our itinerary. (For gracious' sake, Aunt M, I am 56 and have done this a time or two before!) We are going to fly across the country (over my house) and visit. After that, I have about a week before my friend arrives at where I will be staying. I am trying to set up some music therapy meetings to ask questions and see what my future might hold for...

It is almost the end of my break. Today is travel day, so I am getting my things together for the trip back to where I live and work. I have late afternoon/night flights today, so I get to spend some time with my family before heading to the airport. I tend to prefer early flights over late ones, but this schedule gave me a great deal to the airport 15 minutes from my Mother's house rather than having to go through the hullabaloo that is LAX, so I am taking the late flights.  I have strict instructions to strip my bed before I go. I will have a room inspection as well because I tend to leave things behind. I have my travel clothing all picked out, and I am ready to go. The problem? There are many hours between this moment and when I actually leave. I am not an anxious traveler except when it comes to timing. That's where my anxiety comes in. How much time will it take to get to the airport? How much time will it take to go through security? How much time will I need to get a me...

It is Saturday again, and I am at home, so I can write about the things that I am making at the moment. Last Saturday was taken up with traveling, so no creativity posts from me on that day! Today, though, I am surrounded by my stuff, so I can spend some time working through my #musictherapymaker thoughts and projects. (Can you tell that I am getting bored with my own company?? Four days after today of break!) I had a crying day yesterday - do you ever get those? It was the type of day where EVERYTHING that I saw or experienced led me into full out sobbing, so I did the bare minimum that I could do in order to continue to remain safe and healthy. When my brain moved from crying to needing something to do, I spent an hour putting pictures in my Vancouver pages in this homemade scrapbook. I made this during my March trip when I was home to celebrate our canceled Christmas (hence the Grogu Christmas wrapping paper). I made it out of a box that some of my gifts came in and the wrapping pap...

Today is the third day of the World Congress of Music Therapy (or is it "for" music therapy?? I haven't paid attention.), and it is my day to present a workshop that will, hopefully, provoke some ideas about the future of music therapy education and 9clinical training. I am hoping that people will come to see me, but I am convincing myself that I will present what I need to present to the people who are there - whether it is 1 or 100. (Oh dear, I just stubbed my toe on a chair leg and nearly went down on the floor. I am in my hotel room, trying to be as quiet as I can because my mom is still sleeping. I am wandering around in the dark a bit, and was watching my tablet and not my location. Silly me. This is NOT the way to start off the day!) ANYWAY... I have been very nervous about this presentation, and I am not sure why. This entire trip has been anxiety-producing for me. I don't know if it is the fact that I have stepped away from things like music therapy conferenc...

I am currently sitting in my sister's old room (now, the guest room), listening to the rain fall and fall. I will be heading back to my place tomorrow, and I am about ready to go home to do things that I need to do back there. I will be heading to a new airport during my trip back to my land, and I am looking forward to some novel things during the experience. I love traveling. I don't much care what the mode of transportation is in my travels. I've driven completely across this country of ours, taken the train from several destinations to new locations, flown all sorts of places - in fact, across two oceans, and been on a boat for several days. I enjoy the process of travel - almost all of it - not a big fan of having to hoist my carry-on into the overhead compartments, but the rest is pretty good. I strive to have a life where I can travel to places I have never been before. I have that sort of life occasionally, and I enjoy it. I am going to be driving to a conference ne...

I am getting ready to make a journey back to my house from my home. This is the part of going home that I really dislike - leaving, but this song gives me a bit of a chance to think about why I live where I live and the choices that I have made in my life to take me where I need to be...  Therapeutic Music Experience Lonesome Traveler Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Purpose : To stimulate discussion about traveling, being alone, and other topics; to encourage entrainment to an external stimulus; social interaction Source : Hays, L. (1950). Lonesome Traveler . TME development and procedure © 2015 by Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Materials : OPTIONAL: accompanying instrument; rhythm instruments for group members Environment : Group members where they can hear the song leader. Song/Chant/Words : This song has been covered by many different groups. Here is a link to the performance by The Weavers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5vmDL85vt4 ...