music, therapy, and me

I am getting ready for a home invasion - of sorts. The heating guy is coming to tune up my furnace before it is needed. This is a good service, and one that I really need. I planned it, so it is not a surprise, but still, it requires planning on my part. The biggest problem about all of this is that I have to be "on-call" until they fit me into their schedule. That makes me sit here, going through nervous work until they arrive. It is not the best situation to be in for me and my nervous system. In addition, I had to change my debit card, so this company has been calling and sending texts letting me know that the card that they have on file is no longer working. Each call and text just sends my nervous system into overload. On the other hand, I have cut down a whole bunch of cardboard to use for making books this fall. I have moved things around downstairs to accommodate someone clomping around my space that does not know where to step, and I have moved some things from the o...

Let's face it... There is a HUGE disconnect between the number of music therapists out there and the number of available jobs. Every single day, I see posts both from music therapists who cannot find a job and music therapy business owners who are desperate to find music therapists to work. Every single day. I pay attention to these discussions, posts, and comments because music therapist attrition is something that has always interested me. I have often wondered why our profession continues to be so young and inexperienced, and I have collected many answers from therapists who have remained in the profession as well as those who have left. There is no simple answer to the question of why are there so many open music therapy positions and so many music therapists who leave the profession because they can't find jobs. Not everyone is able to or wants to move where the jobs are. Not everyone can sustain their desired quality of life on a therapist's salary. Not everyone wants...

Here I am, sitting in my cool house and complaining about things. It is time for a RANT, people, and here we go! (If you are new here, there are times when I just start writing whatever I can and all the things that I am thinking, feeling, and trying to figure out. Today seems to be one of those days, so here it goes...) I am tired. I am crabby. I am time-zone lagged, and it is showing in my patterns and routines. I am not going to sleep when I usually sleep, and I am waking up groggy and cranky. I blame this on my recent travels and the lack of rest that I got when driving and flying and driving again. I will try to nap today, but thoughts about what I "should" be doing keep me from resting - there's that SHOULDA goblin again... I have not been to the library since I took out a bunch of books that I did not read. I overestimated my interest in reading before my trip, so I had books that I did not even open. I now have so many books to read that I really cannot justify an...

Forgive me as I take one more day away from my scheduled themes to finish up my break chronicles and start getting back into a routine. It has been a long month, but I am back at my home right now and am thinking about the future very seriously. I drove 1,500 miles between Sunday morning and yesterday afternoon. I arrived at my home around 4:30pm after driving to Tucumcari, New Mexico on Sunday. I enjoy driving, and this trip was bittersweet because I think I will be making only one more of these trips, and it should be one-way. The trek from the Midwest to California on Interstate 40 is one that every person should make at least once in their lives. The scenery and history that is involved is absolutely mind-boggling, and the trip is pretty easy on the interstate. I enjoy seeing the scenery changes and experiencing different times of the day and the sunshine in the different regions of this country. Today's primary goal is to clear out the car. I have lots of electronic things and...

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...

During my trip back to the East Coast with my Mom, I did something that I have not done for 3 months (the anniversary was yesterday) - I sang with other people. I have been surprisingly quiet since my days have gone from singing all day, everyday with all my clients to being at my home, just doing what I wanted to do. I have not been making much music in my own company, mainly because music is something I share with others now. We sang one hymn. I sat next to my mother and sang the soprano part of Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.  Her alto voice and my voice compliment each other in ways that only voices that have sung together for many decades can do. We sang this familiar hymn in the company of residents of the retirement community that my Mom's best friend, Aunt Mary, lives in and seems to manage many different parts of the community. She organizes the weekly worship service as well as runs the gift store and is involved in a personalized playlist program with persons with me...

There is much fun to be had today. My sister will be coming up after school, my best friend from elementary school (my last elementary school) will be stopping by on her way to a long weekend, and I am starting to get ready to go home after three weeks away. I intend to travel this weekend, so I am starting the process of organizing things and making room in my car for all the stuff I have accumulated. There's isn't much, but there is more than what I arrived with, so things will have to shift a bit. This leaving and heading east comes with a promise that I will be returning permanently pretty soon. I don't know exactly when, but it will be sometime in 2027 that I move from my current home to a new place out here. I am looking forward to taking the road trip one last time between homes and driving in a leisurely manner from my home in my current state to this one. I do not usually do a leisurely drive when I am on these road trips, so taking my time next time is important t...