music, therapy, and me

I am very glad to see the end of this year. When it started, things were looking up for me - some money in the bank, an end to an education that just wasn't working for me, appliances that worked well, a new car... various and sundry good things that made the dawn of 2013 seem like a fresh start. It didn't last long. I'm not going to dwell on all the things that happened this year. Let's just say that the end of this year is not something to regret around me. So, on the dawn of this new year, here are some music therapy things that I am looking forward to... a new intern, maybe two this year, maybe three... the launch of another series of webinars... CMTE pre-approved provider status - FINALLY! presenting at the Midwestern AMTA regional meeting in Springfield, MO this spring watching the new music room being built - brick by brick advocacy month followed by membership month talking to IDs and interns about important music therapy stuff and, most important...

Can you keep a secret? (You really don't have to, if you don't want to!) I think I've finished the first draft of my first Therapeutic Music Experience (TME) book! I am being somewhat cautious 'cause I've had these thoughts before and just watched them fizzle away... but, this time I think I've got it! As I have explored with you in many MANY other posts before, I get bogged down by feelings of inadequacy - I call those feelings my "woulda, coulda, shoulda goblins." I had a particularly bad episode with the "shoulda goblin" a couple of weeks ago that led to me having some rough nights coupled with insomnia and an allergy attack. This was after influenza, but before the start of my winter break. It was not a good thing. So, anyway, after wallowing in the "poor me's" for a time, I looked around for something that would be a proactive step towards banishing "shoulda" for a time. I came up with an idea that I have been...

It is almost time for the dreaded registration fees to come around again. Now, I have never felt that membership in AMTA was an option. This may have been influenced by my mother and her insistence that she always be a member of AOTA (the American Occupational Therapy Association) even when she was not actively practicing, and this was definitely influenced by my first round of professors. AMTA membership was not an option! Due to those two reasons, I always re-up my membership around the first of the year. It is time to do so again, so I'm going to my banking site and will be sending out the first payment towards this new membership year. Like I said, this isn't an option for me. Do you know what I've noticed over my many years of being a music therapy association member? AMTA does lots and lots for each and every one of us, even when we are not physically involved in a situation. Also, when you are physically involved in a situation, the folks at AMTA will drop wha...

It is the time of year to spend some time trying to figure out personal goals and objectives for the next 12 months - resolutions. Often these statements start with "I resolve to..." and follow similar patterns - lose weight, eat better, save money, work out, blah, blah, blah. Many of us stop following through with our resolutions within a week or two. I am one of those people, so it is time to make a change in how I approach the New Year. So, rather than making resolutions, I will make some predictions for 2014... I feel that 2014 will be a better health year for me (2013 was very rough and EXTREMELY expensive health-wise) I will FINALLY get my CMTE pre-approved status There will be big changes in my personal and professional future that will happen during 2014... That's it. That's all I got! ...and that is okay! Happy New Year, everyone!! (Just a couple of days early!)  

It was another "early-to-rise" day in my household. I awoke at 2am with a raging sinus headache and a non-stop runny nose - darn expired allergy medications! I quickly realized that neither of these things would be conducive to returning to sleep, so I started my day. I picked up the house and have just finished making breakfast/dinner (sloppy joes are good any time of day!). I have played several mind-numbing games on the computer, and I have finished my gift wrapping. Every time I am up this early in the morning. my mind goes towards the need to be occupied in some sort of task. I wonder why I need a task to work towards, but I do, so I embrace that part of myself and move along. Today, my primary tasks have been of the sorting and cleaning type, but I am pretty well finished with what I can do before the decent hour of 7am, so here I sit watching Farscape and thinking. Sorry about that. What do I think about? Anything and everything that pops into my brain at this tim...

So, you may have read through my rant about not liking the music saturation that pervades the months of October through December. Now, the music that is the exception to my rule of no music (outside of work, of course )... John Denver and the Muppets This album of music just warms my heart in ways that no other seasonal music does or can. I love these songs, mainly because I grew up with the Muppets and have ALWAYS loved John Denver. This album puts me right into the mood of the holiday season, no matter where I am, what I am doing, or who I am with at the moment. There aren't too many people out there (that I've found, anyway) that share my enthusiasm for this collection of songs, but I still love them all! It is difficult for me to pick my favorite song, but here I go... Best for a giggle - Twelve Days of Christmas (especially Miss Piggy!) The ones that make me cry - Noel: Christmas Eve 1913, When the River Meets the Sea, and Silent Night The others are a...

I am a Christmas music Scrooge. I am the type of person who avoids all stores from the period after Halloween to the post-Christmas sales simply due to the constant and pervasive repetition of hymns, carols, and songs that permeate my every conscious second. I cannot ignore the music that is played, and it bothers me. Most of my friends don't understand this aversion that I have to singing the same old songs over and over and over again. They love listening to the "all Christmas, all the time" radio stations that pop up around here. I have to escape and retreat into silence. Lately, I have noticed that others (in my social media life, so mostly music therapists) are starting to post about their own aversions to the music of this season. I have been relieved to know that I am not the only Christmas music Scrooge out there. In my therapy sessions, I find myself waiting until the very last possible moment to bring in the Santa-themed songs and the Christmas music. I tr...