Sound Matters Music Therapy, LLC
Serving adults with developmental disability in Minneapolis, MN
I have been wanting to attend these bi-monthly ukelele group workshops, but since I got sick, adding things to the list wasn’t something I did.
But, coming up on January 28, I am definitely going to “Latin Guitar Styles Master Class,” held at the Schmitt Music Minnetonka. Following this, some of us Minneapolis/St. Paul-area music therapists will get together for our monthly meeting.
Latin Guitar Styles Master Class information here.
My sinusitis simply did not let up, all through last week, and then coupled itself with a perky little migraine that took me to urgent care. I am feeling better as the days go by, but truthfully, being sick takes work.
What have I learned in this?
I’m usually so plan-driven that being sick like this completely bottomed me out and required me to re-evaluate my plans. I don’t like re-creating plans, but I simply had to do it the past few weeks.
Here’s to pain medication. 
I am so tired of being sick. I am not able to be as present as I’d like to be with my clients and students, nor do I have energy to spare. Man!
In other news: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition) will be published some time in May of 2013 (according to APA DSM-5). I heard a pretty interesting discussion about this next edition of the DSM on the Bright Not Broken radio show. This particular discussion examines those people who are considered “twice-exceptional,” having special gifts as well as special needs.
Feel free to click the link below to listen.
Happily, this month there will be a Minneapolis music therapists meeting. We missed last month because, well, I’d just gotten married, and many of us were out of town.
Our next meeting is Sunday, July 29, at 10:00. Pass on to anyone in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area! Thanks, and happy Friday (the 13th).
I have come across the best tool combination for note-taking and efficiency therein. Thomas the New Husband bought me an iPad for Valentine’s Day this year, and although I have been using it pretty consistently for its apps, I’m even more enamored with it now. Now I’m using it with its own little tiny (perfect for my child-sized hands) Bluetooth keyboard, and the team of those two cut down the length of time it takes me to write up progress notes by at least half. Probably more.
I’d been using the Evernote app for dictation while commuting between clients or accounts, but now I’m able to use it for synchronized notes as well.
Anything to make paperwork more pleasant.
I work on my own, as a contractor and in my own private practice. I don’t co-facilitate with another music therapist, and I don’t work on a team (at the moment). For these reasons, I’ve found that seeking out the support of my peers is crucial, not only for feedback or questions, but to answer, “Is there anyone else who is having the same issues/troubles/concerns/successes?”
I’m looking forward to our next new music therapists meeting here in Minneapolis. Currently, the date is yet to be determined because many of us are out of town in the summer, but I will be sure to update this information as soon as it’s solidified.
And I’m sick. Over the past two weeks, this cough I’d developed turned itself into bronchitis and I woke up Monday with a painful sinus infection. Two unrelated problems, that hit me at the same time. Luckily, I have some pretty understanding families (who would want a sick person around their child?), and one mother told me she thinks it could’ve happened because my body hit a let-down following the wedding. Probably true. Honestly, I was expecting to get a little sick, but not quite this bad.
I’m medicated now, and feel much better than even yesterday. Today I’ve caught up on all the music therapy, speech-language pathology, and music education blogs that I read. One of the music education blogs, MusTech.net, mentioned an app I might put into use, called “Note Squish” (find the full description here). The app seems that it would engage some of my clients, especially those who are infatuated by anything technological and who seem to engage with my iPad more than with the dry-erase board I use (and this doesn’t surprise me).
Now that I have accomplished my wedding (what an accomplishment that process was, too — I spent a whole lot of energy worrying over that lovely day), I have come up with some new goals for my work and my small private practice. Some of these I had incorporated into my daily routine months before my wedding, but some I have just recently decided I’d like to do. Here are a few:
Most of these particular things I have done to some degree or another, but I feel the need to be more diligent about them. And of course, there are many more needs to fulfill, but those I’ll leave for another list, perhaps.
I’ve taken to use monthly, weekly, and daily checklists, but then let each and every un-checked task haunt me if and when it’s ignored. Any good ideas to help let go of those things that simply did not happen?
My husband* and I have just begun training for a marathon that is set this fall. Since I’ve been running outdoors, and with Thomas, I haven’t had any kind of music with me at any time. When I’ve exercised indoors, I’ll have my headphones on, but I hardly ever listen to music. Music feels too intense for me to have with me while I’m running. I’m almost afraid that I’ll become too engrossed in the music that I won’t pay attention to my body, and that I’ll break my ankle and won’t even notice. (Doubtful.)
In many races, runners aren’t allowed to run with headphones. I imagine this has something to do with safety and runners’ awareness of their surroundings. Apparently, those athletes who do train with music in their headphones are looked down upon by elite runners. They’re not considered “purist.”
Well, maybe not. I am fully aware of the effects music has on me, and can remember how certain kinds of music would do a lot for my warm-up routines for the various sports I played when I was younger. So, I suppose those elite runners are right; music definitely adds something to a run.
I enjoyed an article from active.com quite a bit. I love learning about research on the effects of music, especially when it addresses a very different population of people. In this case, athletes.
Go ahead and read Can Music Make You a Better Runner? and let me know your thoughts.
*I’ve gotten to write “my husband” only a few times yet.
Thanks to The Husband for sending the article on to me!
Good Monday to you!
Clearly, I’ve been away. In June, I got married. Leading up to the wedding, I decided to shift my focus much more to all of the end-of-planning work that needed to be done, so I sacrificed my blogging for that. But, I’ve decided that this week is the week I get back into it all.
Much has been happening here in Minnesota. We’ve still been holding our monthly meetings. I’ve been finding new clients and even new students. I’d been considering new ways to approach a couple of places in my community (though admittedly, I knew I wouldn’t get to that until July or August). I’ve decided to try to hit up a ukelele group that happens every other Monday night.
For our honeymoon, we flew down to Florida and then road-tripped along the Gulf Coast and stayed a day in New Orleans. The most striking part about New Orleans, for me, was the first half hour walking around a city square and hearing a band play on the street. Comprised of a trumpet, trombone, tuba, guitar, and bass drum, they improvised inside the song “We All Scream for Ice Cream,” to the extent that I teared up a little– they were fantastic. (Of course they were. New Orleans.) That night we spent some time on Frenchman Street and were happy to hear all kinds of amazing music spill out of each door that we passed.
I did love the South.