3 Good Ideas

More often than not, I find I don't have enough to say to warrant a blog update.
This morning is no different, but I haven't updated in a long time. By the time I think about updating my blog, I feel like sleep or leaving for work probably should come first.
I am a busy bee and under the pressure of upcoming conference deadlines. That is my excuse for not updating... this time.

I was thinking about something this morning worth sharing, I think. I have been prepping for our national conference and collecting presentation proposals for our regional conference (as a part of my duties as continuing education person). Unexpectedities (new word - just made it up) happen and you do your best to negotiate around them or work through them. Life goes on. This week I was reminded of something that I maybe have mentioned before:

Everyday, every person has at least 3 good ideas.

I didn't say great ideas. Just good ones. Although, there are days where great ideas are everywhere. In working with presenters, figuring out timelines, coming up with new ways (and better!) ways to complete the same tedious tasks, we come to some creative solutions all week long. The best part of these great ideas have been collaborative. They've emerged while talking through a "problem" or just a random phone call with colleagues and friends. I know some creative people!

This ties in with the strengths of my colleagues and how they mesh with mine, but that's another blog post for another time.

Back to work!
I'm hoping to get a chance to catch up this weekend, prep for conference and program my keyboard for an upcoming show. All great ideas - and now, quite frankly, my brain is fried. Time for a second cup of coffee and some morning/afternoon sessions.

Vacation Catch Up

School was out last week for a end of summer term-beginning of fall term break. It was a lovely week. I got to sleep in, play a couple of extra gigs, and see some of my other clients. But now, this week I feel like I am scrambling to catch back up, plus my keyboard is unhappy and I had to take it in to get fixed, and I've been trying to drum up some new business and resolve some old stuff (terminating services with a client, doing the books, and things like that). Its exhausting. I am also gearing up for conference in a couple of weeks and that means conference proposals, presentations meetings and of course, gag gifts. But I think I've made it through the worst of it relatively unscathed and sanity in tact.


At the end of the day, I leave my clients feeling energized, not drained.
That's how I know I'm operating right in the pocket and not over (or under)-doing it.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Obviously, its been awhile since I have updated my blog and it wasn't because I forgot or that people were not reminding me (Thanks, elTee). I've been reluctant to update because I have been sort of going through one of my periodic professional and personal existential crises.
Why am I here? What am I doing?


The professional and personal decided to coincide this time. It sounds more dramatic than it actually was and because it wasn't dramatic, I wasn't quite sure I was going through one until I finally had a day off this weekend. Today's theme is "breaking up is hard to do."

1. I will start at the beginning. I had been dating this guy that I met through one of my gigs and decided 2 weeks ago that I needed to break up with him. VERY long story short, we wanted completely different things. And because I am not ready to settle down, I think that no one is ready to settle down. Its sort of an interesting story that will stick with me for a while and the topic of a future post after more time has passed. Anyhow, I felt pretty great about that decision, but breaking up with someone isn't the easiest thing, especially when the guy is a fantastic guy.

2. In conjunction with that break up, several of the therapists at the school have decided to move on to new jobs and experiences. Getting to know and work with these women has been a pleasure. I have learned so much about being apart of an interdisciplinary team, participating in co-treats and being in an office environment that isn't also apart of my home. I am sad to see them go but I am happy that they are moving on. Over the last year, I've been lucky to create some solid friendships and working relationships that I know will lead to future professional endeavors and also shenanigans. That's huge for me, as I tend to have issues balancing work and play.

3. Then... a job position opened up at a private school for a music history, theory and musical theater instructor for middle and high school students. Surprisingly, I applied. It felt weird because it was a deviation from clinical work, but I convinced myself that it was a good exercise to at least apply. By the time I submitted my application, the position had been filled. I am glad the decision was made for me and on some level I probably waited so long to decide to apply secretly hoping that would happen. I get enough kicks from playing shows and I would hate to leave my clients.

All of these things swirling around created a kind weird altered state of consciousness and I sort of missed the signs that I was supposed to keep moving forward without deviating (too much) from my path. Like:

• I've been asked to take on some extra clients for the next few weeks while another therapist goes on maternity leave
• I have a new lead on a program that might be receptive to starting a music therapy program. 
• I had a meeting with a stanford masters student who has created a new program that bridges math concepts and english literacy concepts through music.
• I'm also up for an accompanist job for a voice studio which would be a great way to round out weekly hours 
• AND I am starting a new piano student this week.

I'm feeling more like myself now, especially after a marathon catch up with my co-intern Kari yesterday. I'm off to a session this morning and then taking care of September scheduling and general housekeeping items. I guess I have to break up with the weekend too. :) Away I go.

Back to Work

Okay- I am on my last day of Summer vacation before the craziness of July begins. 

First up, I have great news! I had a fantastic meeting with the administration at school before I left for my NY vacation. They will be renewing my contract at the school with the hope to continue and expand my work. Yay! That was perfect news to kick off my vacation. I am back to work tomorrow and looking forward to it. 

My NY trip was amazing. We had some quality best friend time. We didn't really do the touristy stuff, but instead did and saw more local things. We went to Long Beach for the day; We celebrated Canada Day at Joe's Pub by singing along to the Canadian Songbook; We went to Atlantic City to play the slots (see the picture of the boardwalk)! Julie was up about 50 bucks and I lost money. Typical. We took the bus from the NY Port Authority. We had no trouble getting there and we even made our bus back!

We ate at lovely diners and restaurants, including Justin Timberlake's restaurant, Southern Hospitality. We caught a Broadway play, Peter and the Star Catcher. That was a treat! This play was probably the best production I've ever seen, of anything. It was witty and hilarious. The staging was brilliant and creative. We really enjoyed ourselves. 

Another high point was being able to catch up with a friend of mine from Chapman. I hadn't seen her in 3 years and I randomly thought to send her a text to see if she was around. Julie and I ended up spending the 4th of July with my friend and a group of people she knows. We ended up on a rooftop party in Hell's Kitchen for the firework show. It was a fun party- we didn't really know many people aside from my chapman friend and her boyfriend. The guy who lived in the building (a friend of my chapman friend) is a young fashion photographer who apparently was just featured on a show on Bravo. Little details like that crack me up. I guess its a thing to just allow random people up to the rooftop for a party... as long as they bring something - cups, ice, mixers, booze, snackies. It was actually a lovely affair. We stayed for a while after the show ended before heading back to Julie's apartment. This was really the perfect way to end my trip. 

I'm glad to be home and starting back at work. Too much time on my hands means random creative projects. Here's to my last vacation day!

MT Nerd Alert

I just finished a couple of books and wanted to write a little something about them:


The Way of Music - Kalani
Kalani is a colleague and music therapist friend. We went through school around the same time at different schools. He developed a book on improvisation techniques and exercises. He draws from other sources of improvisation (Bruscia, Gardstrom, Wigram, Nordoff-Robbins, Victor Wooten) as well as his own experience as a percussionist and therapist. With each technique he explains, he offers exercises to try. Many of the techniques include both intra- and inter-personal exercises to practice and apply the techniques. I think its well written and explains things quite well. It looks a little more user friendly than Models of Improvisational Music Therapy and is closer in style to Gardstrom's book on techniques for group improvisation facilitation. I also really liked his distinction between improvisation and clinical improvisation.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won't Stop Talking - Susan Cain
I loved reading this book. Its a hefty read, but I blew through it because it was so interesting. Only an introvert would by a book about introversion in order to have some alone time to think deeply about being introverted. It was lovely AND it helped me understand a bit more about how I function. She touches on topics like the neuroscience of introversion, intro- and extro-verts in business practices and leadership (and the strengths and weaknesses of both), and communicating with people of different types.
What I found most interesting was a chapter on when to act more extroverted than you really are. I was thinking about how I love the 5 days of go-go-go at conferences - the networking, the learning, the staying up late and getting up early feeling amazing, the music making and relationship building- and the thankful feeling that conferences only happen twice a year. I get so much out of each trip, but need a significant chunk of time to recharge when I return. I am social and a (fairly skilled) networker when needed, but then feel absolutely depleted of my energy afterwards.  This chapter also helped me prepare for meetings regarding contracts, new clients and my midyear board meeting because I picked up some great ideas on how to organize my thoughts. I don't always speak out in meetings because they move too fast. By the time I have thought about the topics or agenda items, we have moved on. I did "my homework" to free up my thinking power for more in the moment discussions. It helped.

I could go on and on about this book, so I'll stop here. 


Both titles are a bit of a far cry from 50 Shades of Grey, but I enjoyed them both. Thanks for nerd-ing out with me.

June

Oops Again.

I get so carried away with my projects that sometimes I forget to update.

Everything is going along swimmingly.
This week I am meeting with administration at the school where I contract to talk about renewing my contract. There have been many wonderful things happening with each client and Thursday is the time where I can bring in all of my experiences and data to the admin and talk about what is really happening in music. Of course, the lovely anecdotes from the other therapists, staff and teachers have also helped. I think I'm going to sit down and write out some of the things I know I want to tell her. Sometimes its difficult for me to hit all my points extemporaneously.
I am a "think of the perfect thing to say 3 days after the fact" person.

Today, I did an individual session with the OT and SLP. This student shows little motivation to participate in any activity, class, or group. But when music therapy was introduced into the environment, the student comes to life. The difference is significant. Today we were approximating (and in some cases imitating) each other's rhythmic patterns. In debriefing with the OT and SLP, it was one of those moments where I became re-excited about being a music therapist.

I am looking forward to more moments at the school, but I won't know for sure until I sign the dotted line (again).

This weekend I am headed to the east coast for a little R-ing&R-ful vacation to see my best friend Julie. I'll be in NYC for almost a week- which I think is also going to include a side adventure to Atlantic City. I've already decided to return with everything that I brought... unlike my last trip east.
I'm playing a few shows this summer as well as working garlic festival. As always, my plate is filling up rather quickly, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

A Breather

Remember my resolution to update more often?
oops.


Life has been crazy busy in the last 4 weeks. I finally finished my show(s). And I think for the first time since giving up my sunday schedule on March 18th, I finally had a weekend off. I had a few things to do here and there, but I didn't have to work and I didn't have to play. It was lovely.

Work is going well right now. I love my clients. I love how the school program is developing. I have had some encouraging discussions with the administration about the future of my contract and program. I'm also feeling the need to branch out and approach more schools. I think summer might be a good time start working on that - in time for the new school year.
Summer is shaping up - I have a trip planned to see my best friend Julie in NYC, subbing in a couple of performances for another show and of course garlic festival. But I am looking forward to getting my work schedule back to a slightly more relaxed pace.... so I can take on other projects, of course.  :)


My latest adventure: I can now say that I have been rock climbing. A friend from the theater invited me to go with him one Monday morning/afternoon. It was a lot harder than I had expected. We went to the Santa Cruz mountains and we get to this 80ft flat drop that we had to repel down. B basically hooked up my harness and tossed me over the edge. It was a lot of fun. This picture was about halfway down the first repel.






Then we hiked up some other rocks and things to this little climb. Its 60-65ft. and I did it! I felt really proud of myself for trying something new and exciting.




Anyhow, things are trucking along.
I am off to my music therapy association's midyear meeting this coming weekend. I am excited to see my colleagues although, I know we will be meeting for a collective 20 hours... at least. It should be interesting.

Hell Week: A New Definition

This week was the worst.

Hell Week has a couple of definitions- I looked them up. It can refer to frats and sororities or midterms and finals or theater productions. Hell Week as I know it is the week leading up to opening night and includes long tech rehearsals. Hours of stopping and starting and hoping to make it through the show. Its mentally and physically exhausting to play a show, stop and start, and focus. Focus is a typical challenge for me. :)
Anyhooo my week leading up to opening night was quite hellish.

I had a crazy busy schedule with work, tech week for the show I'm playing, and another gig (this evening). In addition, I picked up a new client and we had our conference call with the MT on the east coast (see post below). Also, I started house sitting this week for some family friends. So.... as you can read, my plate is quite full.

After logging all of my easter/holy week mass hours, I was gearing up for this crazy week. And monday I was just flattened. I had a really tough session that just caused my emotional cup to runneth over. From the get go, this week did not turn out as I had planned. Go figure. Silly Me for planning. I couldn't get it together in time for my other sessions, so I had to call in and cancel them. Everyone was extremely understanding and I knew it as the right decision. I had the conference call monday night and a rehearsal. Eventually I'd have to pull it together and I needed the time to do so.

Tuesday was better. I picked up a friend's amp that I'm using for the show and got to sit in on some rehearsals. Wednesday- Thursday were tech rehearsals till 11pm. Plus full days of sessions and seeing a new client for the first time.
Last night I had a few sessions, a practice gig for this real gig tonight and opening night. PLUS there was an opening night reception for the cast, crew and orchestra which turned out to be an excellent end to this crazy stupid week. Maybe sleeping in this morning is the best end of this crazy stupid week.

Lesson learned.

It's hard to stay focused on the one day at a time when each day feels like a deluge of things. But as my friend said, "it's do-able and you may look back and wonder how you even did it." She didn't say it had to be graceful.

More on our conference call later....

A Perfect Storm

Hi there.

Okay- the Conference Update.


Last week I came back from our regional conference and have been on the Conference Catch-Up since.

During regional conference, a long time friend and colleague (who also sits on the board) told me that I was "the perfect storm of organization and improvisation." I loved that. In my position, organization is everything... but you also need to be able to go with the flow and respond in the moment. That was the best compliment.

ANyhow, this conference was exciting and important for me in a couple of ways:

1. It was my first conference in my position on the regional board. I am responsible for the quality of programming and continuing education opportunities offered at conference. Everything went really well. Everything ran smoothly. There were a couple of instances where we had to improvise to fill in some last minute holes or glitches. But because they happened, I know what to do if they happen again. I was pretty nervous about making sure I had the right documentation and that the systems we put in place were going to work. They did. Yay!
We got positive feedback on the pacing and schedule.
AND there were several people who told me (or other board members) that every session was worth their time. The presenters were effective and engaging. That's the best feedback ever.

2. My friend/colleague and I gave our presentation on examining the strengths/weaknesses and intersections of two opposing views in music therapy. It was standing room only -  about 33% of conference attendance gathered in our room. We had amazing discussion and feedback throughout the conference. About 8 hours later, my co-presenter and I received an email from a retired music therapist who has been published numerous times and has held extensive leadership positions. This MT lives on the east coast and did not attend our conference... but they heard from another MT who was there. Word travels fast. I feel honored and humbled that this great brain in MT wants to talk to us. We're currently trying to schedule an online conference call  for the next week. Wow!

3. I got to catch up and spend time with friends that I only get to see once or twice a year. There were plenty of shenanigans. There were moments during the conference wrap up Sunday night where we laughed so hard that it hurt. I even got to see some of the city too. Its rare that I get a chance to wander out of the conference hotel.

4. A couple of other presentation ideas have arisen from this conference.


I've just about wrapped everything up from conference, wrote my thank you notes, and submitted my documentation.
Now I'm moving on to the next few projects - a ton of piano gigs (theater and otherwise) and some possible private clients that have come from referrals.
I'm just trucking a long. :)

Spring Forward

It feels so early!

We are closing the show this afternoon.
That means there is one week remaining until our regional music therapy conference. I can't believe that it is here. This is my first year in a position on the executive board, so I'm slightly nervous about how everything will run. The nerves comes from not knowing. But I have an excellent network of colleagues who have helped me throughout the year prep for this conference. I am in good hands. I love that about my region and colleagues and field - the people are supportive and generous with their time and attention.

I had a few things happening between strike today and jetting off to conference next week, but I am looking forward to it.
I will try to blog again before conference.

My Tank is Full

I'm running on over drive here.

I've got a lot going on right now in terms of conference prep, general everyday things, and plus a show opening this weekend. Crazy? yes. Enjoyable? most of the time.
Things wouldn't be so crazy if my car did poop out this weekend.

I was driving down the freeway when I noticed smoke coming out of the back of my car and my RPMs began to fluctuate. After a few phone calls, a tow truck, a rescue pick up from Ty, and a rental car from the airport with my Dad, I learned that tubes  had been disconnected and caps were sealed correctly and radiator brackets were missing. The guy seemed to think that this damage looked deliberate and wondered if I had my car serviced recently--- which I did. I had my oil changed a couple of weeks ago. It made me fairly paranoid and since then my emotional tank has been at the threshold.

Sometimes its hard to put aside all that other stuff and focus on the work that is in front of you. Sometimes its not. But this week, I've been thinking about that particular issue. How is it that we carry on and provide effective therapeutic services when we could be susceptible to an amygdala hijacking at any moment.


Amygdala Hijacking - When your emotional responses take over. They are immediate and completely overwhelming and absolutely out of proportion in response to the thing that has caused it. Directly from Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence." For example, rage, anger, sadness in response to not being able to fit a keyboard into a "clown" rental car. Seriously, I don't know how music therapists work with tiny cars. 


The worst part of an amygdala hijacking, especially for me, is that I'm at the whim of my emotional responses. There isn't time to analyze or over-think. Its illogical and out of proportion... but its like a roller coaster that you can't get off. You sort of have to go with it until the ride is over. That part drives me a little batty.

This week has been another confirmation that I am in a wonderful discipline and profession. I sort of got a grip on everything after my first session yesterday. It sort of reprioritized and reorganized myself. I have a job to do and I am good at it. And I love it. And my students are amazing and they benefit from the music.  Plus the support from my colleagues both in music therapy and other disciplines lifts me up. I'm not the only person who has ever felt this way. Sometimes the work can be draining and its nice (and necessary) to be able to talk about it with other professionals at work.

Briefly (the reason why I haven't blogged recently):
One major project down for regional business (!!!!!--- that project was certainly hefty) with Conference coming up in a few weeks!
First tech rehearsal for "hell" week for the latest theater production I'm playing for!
Car should be ready to pick up this afternoon!
I picked up a new piano student!
Housesitting gig next week - just some "girl time" with Baroness Peaches.

As always, I have a lot to be excited about. :)

Growing Pains

What a weekend.

I just spent the last 24 hours in Sacramento spending time with a music therapy colleague to prep for a presentation we are giving at our conference in March.
Our presentation is sort of on a difficult topic. My colleague wasn't sure that anyone, at least in our region, has ever presented on it at conference. So, its sort of risky, I suppose. We're presenting on integrating ways of thinking in music therapy. My colleague and I come from two very different theoretical backgrounds and we have been talking about doing this type of presentation for a couple of years. I guess now is the time.
It wasn't a walk in the park to put together. Our ways of doing things are so different. Our taxonomy and language is different. And for some reason these two "camps" don't always get along. We went back and forth for at least 2 hours this morning on how to compare and contrast the two models. I was about ready to shut down out of frustration and my colleague (who is also a good friend) was pushing and pushing.

We finally ended up where we needed to get, but not without taking a break to process everything we were trying to cover. It was a good experience and the frustration we felt is something we can draw upon for our presentation.

I'm back home now and happily lounging after a productive 24 hours.
My brain is officially fried.

Acceptance

Today is an important day.

Today I achieved Acceptance. 
Turns out I have been grieving the fact that I went into private practice. See, I wanted someone to want me enough to pay me on vacation and sick days and benefits to work full time. That's what I really wanted right out of internship. I didn't want to work for my self - the main reasons being accounting and the administrative side of the business. I wanted (and still do) to be a clinician. All of the time.

A light bulb went off today while I was driving home.
I went through the stages of grief over this private practice thing (from the Kubler-Ross model).
1. Denial - For a while I was convinced that this was not what I wanted to do and that I wasn't going to do it. Someone would hire me. No big deal.
2. Anger - Why Me? There wasn't a whole lot of this, I don't think, but there were instances where I felt "why am I doing this. I hate this."
3. Bargaining  - If I just work for the first 3 months under contract, they will hire me.
4. Depression - This sucks. I hate this. What? I have to reconcile every month? No. This is why I didn't want to work for myself. I don't feel like doing any of this. Can I run away to mexico and be one of those people that sells grains of rice with names written on them. Yes, I've thought about that.
5. Acceptance - Today.
Today, I came to accept my private-practice-ness.

About a week ago, I had this feeling that the school would never hire me. I felt strangely okay with that.  I felt that was kind of weird because I have written so much about wanting them to just hire me. But in the last few weeks or so, I've experienced a change of heart.

Then today, I was meeting with a colleague and it finally donned on me. I'm doing pretty well on my own. It is better for me to be in private practice at this point in my career. Its okay to approach some other schools and try and get another contract somewhere.  I'd been hesitant to call another school for autism to inquire about music because of my emotional attachment to this current school.

Thought I'd share that epiphany. I told Julie to mark it down in the calendar as the day I accepted my private practiceness.
I will now go help myself to some cookies. I think I deserve it.

Reclaiming my Time!

I am reclaiming my weekends.
I have decided to transition out of my Sunday groups and move my sometimes Saturday session to another weeknight. That means I will have weekends to relax and recharge.
As of March, my schedule will change. I will do a lot less driving every month. I will miss my Sunday clients, but in the grand scheme of things, if I keep going at this rate, I will surely burn out. This a preventative and solid decision.
I feel pretty good about it.

Also, I have survived prepping my taxes for the first time.
Big shout out to my dad, The Don, for his tireless work. He went through everything with me and for me, made sure that everything was set up, and that every cent was reconciled. It was a lot of work, but we did it. My statements are ready to go to the accountant AND we did it without any yelling at each other. There was plenty of yelling and pounding tables, but for completely unrelated reasons. So thanks Dad, love you! I think I almost understand how this stuff works. :)

Songwriting

Today one of my groups wrote a song.

It was about disgusting things: Wiping your nose on your sleeve, not showering, mud and of course.. poop.
Yes, it happened to be a group of boys.... could you have guessed?

Aside from the subject matter, the guys were feeding off of each other, appropriate interacting and contributing to this songwriting process. They were motivated and seemed to have a good time. They were on task and everything they were contributing was absolutely related to the topic at hand. Also, at the end there was a sense of group cohesion. It brought us together and gave us a few laughs.
We also recognized that the events in the song were "gross!" and if we identified them, we know not to do them. No body wants to shake the hand of someone who has been wiping their nose with their hands/sleeve.

I guess it doesn't always matter what the content is... if the topic is motivating and relevant and can be shaped to work towards their goals, then why not (....within reason)?


It was an informative and productive 25 minutes.  :)

A Step in the Right Direction

BedKnobs and Broomsticks is one of my favorite movies. Don't ask why, it just is. Angela Landsbury is amazing 

I've watched the DVD and the special features enough to know that there was a song that ended up on the cutting room floor because the movie is so damn long. The song is called A Step in the Right Direction. Angie Lands sings it while she's learning to fly her broom in the beginning.
Triguna Macoites Tricorum Satis Dee

You can finish rolling your eyes, mom. Anyhow, Thursday, I stepped (again) in the right direction and had to share!

With all of the sessions I'm doing at the school, I was having trouble trying to find the time in my schedule to do some interdisciplinary sessions (music + speech and music + OT). So this week, I asked the person I answer to, I guess my "boss," about the reality of getting some additional hours. She wrote it down to bring up at the next big meeting of her supervisors. The Meeting was yesterday and I received an email almost right away.


I was telling Julie that for ever little step forward I have a realistic goal and a "sky's the limit" goal.
Realistic Goal: Get just a couple of hours more every week.
Outrageous Goal: Be hired on staff.

Results?
I got a couple more hours for my school contract!

This is great news and a great step forward! I'll be there with the extra hours through the school year (June) - at which time we'll talk about summer programming.
I love working there so much. I'm doing more and more co-treats with the other disciplines and people are really starting to think about how they can incorporate music more into their sessions or classrooms.
It is an exciting time.

BreakThroughs

I had a breakthrough with one of my clients and mostly because I was really listening.
I've been sort of struggling with planning these particular sessions because its a bit outside of my comfort zone. The experiences I was trying did feel like they were connecting to the fullest.
In this past session, the client casually mentioned something about also enjoying an art class. The lightbulb came on and we spent the session doing some music listening and art then discussion. We hit all of the session objectives through this medium and the client seemed more engaged and participatory throughout. This person could explain things in more detail and with greater insight through the music and art medium than all of the previous experiences we've done together.
I left feeling excited and energized AND I left knowing exactly what I wanted to do the next session.
I love when a good plan comes together.

Mantras

How many people out there use Mantras?
Mantras are words or phrases (sometimes syllables like in yoga practice) that are supposed to create some sort of transformation. I never really thought about mantras that way until I googled it. I like that- creating transformation.

I used one yesterday in a post: Process and Move On.
Its a good one and directly related to being able to let go of things that are not worth the time and energy. I'll let you know how that one works out. I was inspired to think about more mantras I have used after yesterday's post. I like them and I think they help me. Sometimes I need to refocus my attention to the things that matter. :)

Other ones I've been known to repeat:

Breathe 
Keep Breathing 
Limitations are Not Failures
Pace yourself
Balance
Just be


Perhaps the most exciting (and most recent) mantra I've encountered was provided by my best friend Julie:

Filter and Tolerate


I crack up whenever I think about it- it's impossible to be in a sour mood and think about filtering and tolerating. It's a good one for me and in a round about way reminds me to go with the flow.


Any other good mantras out there?

Tip For Clean Living #3

3. Mind your own business.

For some reason, I have a lot of trouble with this one. :)

Sometimes things or people happen (people can happen now) and they may (in)directly produce consequences that may affect my life. And I get all worked about it or them. Often, I have very little control over the situation and instead of letting it go, I hang on to it... tightly.  Its exhausting. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I need to be spending my energy on more important things. But sometimes, I can't help it. Or rather, I haven't been willing to help it.

 Sometimes people are infuriating. Sometimes I think that I could do things better than they are being done. Sometimes I dwell on what could have happened. I'd like to remind myself that I am a capable professional and person. I am capable of contributing to positive change AND I am capable of letting things go. Like I mentioned, I could be using my energy for other important things.... like underwater basket weaving and button collecting. Those would definitely be more important than worrying about this other stuff.

so in 2012, I'm going to try and mind my own business more often. That also includes letting things go that I don't need to hang on to. Process and move on. 

Making Good

I'm making good on my desire to update more often. Yay me.

Last night I teamed up with the director for advancement to present to a local organization who helped to fund my music therapy program at the school. We thanked the organization; I made them practice the appropriate way to greet someone through song and that was it. We literally had 5 minutes. To make the trip worthwhile, we decided to grab a bite to eat afterwards in Campbell. It was nice to hang out with someone that I've never hung out with before and didn't know that well. I had a pleasant time.

Today I have a session at the preschool and regular school plus a meeting about some new collaborative projects. I feel only slightly prepared... and it seems to happen this way every Thursday morning. Maybe I'll have to add better planning for Thursdays into my new years tips for clean living. Maybe.

Everything is really positive right now. I've been asked to do an inservice next week to kick off the year and it would seem that I have a future at the organization. I'm still so excited to go to work there every week.

Thank you for the comments. You don't have to read the December 11th post anymore! :)

2012 Resolutions

While I'm at it, I wanted to think about new years resolutions.

I stopped doing resolutions a couple of years ago because I never follow through. And I've found that specific resolutions are often harder to keep 4 weeks down the line, than general and broad "tips for clean living."

So this year while everyone was making their obligatory "2011 was great... but I already know 2012 will be amazing..." posts, I was feeling a little resistant to making any sort of summary of my year (which was really positive). I hadn't figured out my key words for 2012. And truthfully, I couldn't remember what I had set out to do in 2011.

About a week ago, I guess I decided.
In 2012, I will strive for/to:

1. Balance - which means being able to say no and knowing my limits. This is often the most difficult thing to do, although I'm learning. That might also include having more fun, more active exercise (getting back into yoga) and updating my blog more often. :)


2. Pace myself - Its easy for me to bite off way more than I can chew. It's also common that I want to run right to the end product without going through the process. This year, I'd like to take my time with things and let them happen organically. You know, enjoy the ride. "Thinking before acting" also falls into this category.


I hope everyone had a wonderful new year celebration and that those resolutions, tips for clean living, promises, goals.. however you frame it... are still going strong. It is, after all, already January 11.

Happy New Year

Here's to a new year... already.
I can't believe how quickly the time passed in 2011.

My apologies for not updating, the entire month of december was a whirlwind. I had a show, my contract was in fact renewed at the school, I housesat, went on a Disneyland Bachelorette party and enjoyed the holiday season.

My school contract was renewed for the next few months while we figure out the future of the program. The school admins are supportive of what I'm doing and I am continuing to have successes (big and small) every day. In fact, I should think about hitting the road to work pretty soon here. Tonight I am teaming up with the head of advancement to give a small presentation to a local charitable group who helped fund my program. That will be fun.
I enjoy going to work every day and although I scheduled myself to have like a 3 week vacation, I am happy to be back to work. I missed my kids.

Piano lessons persist happily and I'm trying to find the time to play more shows in the spring. Between that and all of my responsibilities for the music therapy regional stuff, I am a busy lady. But I like it that way. Its almost easier to be busy and happy than to be bored. :)