music, therapy, and me

I enjoy composing music. Most of my music is for clinical application, so the songs tend to be simplistic in nature rather than complex or orchestrated. I have lots of repetition, simple sentences, and goal orientations in my pieces, but I still love writing songs. There are times, though, when I am unable to get my brain going to compose things. This usually leads me into a bit of a spiral and causes more stress than I really need, but one of the good things about being a vintage music therapist is that I know several things will happen: Creative blocks happen. They will end when they end. It is okay to take a break from composing when the ideas seem forced. There are ways to compose things when your brain will not work the way you want it to. Not every song you compose has to be wonderful or even relevant. Sometimes, just getting a song out of you is the way to unblock your creativity. So, how do I get out of a composing block? I have several different ways to help me write songs whe...

I am bored with the therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) that I have in my repertoire, and I am yearning to be writing new songs. It just isn't happening much at all. I haven't really "written" anything that I have deemed worth fixing into permanence for a long time. I am not really sure why I have this feeling, but I do. Yesterday, my intern sang three new songs with our clients. One of the things that I require of my interns is writing at least 25 original songs for use in TMEs with our clients. These songs don't have to be great at all, but they do have to be written because that skill is something that comes in handy when you have an unusual goal or topic to share with a particular client. I had a conversation with a former intern who is now working with older adults. During the conversation, #31 shared that how music was used with older adults is different from how music was used in my program. There is more of a focus on repertoire with older adults. With my...

Today is a day where writing is not coming easily to me. I can usually sit for a time, write a couple of paragraphs, and find my way into various ideas and topics, but not today. I've been staring at the blinking cursor, using the backspace key, and eliminating entire posts because they just aren't interesting me. I know that this happens to other people who write as well, so I'm not really worried, but I really don't like this feeling. I'm even struggling with coming up with my personal happiness statement. Nothing seems to be motivating me today. I'm not sure why, but I think it may have something to do with my upcoming vacation (which is both a source of distress and eustress) and seems to be taking up my entire life at the moment. It is certainly taking over my thoughts which are darting from place to place and task to task. It is interesting that writing lists (my usual way of quieting a busy brain by putting things on paper) is not really working to ...