Day 11 - On the Rebound

It is said that "there are two sides to every story". The same can be said of vacations!

As readers of this blog know, I have recently taken a 2 week train vacation. It was, absolutely, one of the best vacations that I have ever taken. I visited our cottage, a few "historic" sites from my childhood and renewed acquaintances with friends that I haven't seen for a few years. Returning home to Edmonton, my children were eager to visit me, and I soon felt like I needed another vacation after my vacation! Among my "to do" items yet to be completed, a big belated thank-you to my guest bloggers. I really enjoyed your posts and I look forward to working together in the future. A special note about the third guest author (Nikki Belshe, MT-BC, NMT). Her participation was not confirmed prior to my departure on my vacation and consequently I did not have an opportunity to post a short introduction - so here it is.

Nikki Belshe MT-BC, NMT is a music therapist who is presently living in Colorado. She has training as a "Neurological Music Therapist", a specialty within training to become a music therapist. I met her through Twitter, where she goes by the username @nikkibelsheMTBC.

To recap - the downside of a vacation is the added workload when you return (indeed, the list of things to do seems to increase exponentially with the number of weeks that you are away). The upside of a vacation, particularly if it was a good vacation, is the renewed energy that you can bring to that pile of "things to do". I came back charged and ready to go. It was great to see my clients again, see the glimpses of a past relationship in the words and demeanour of many of the clients with Alzheimer's type dementia (note the use of person-first terminolgy :-) ), meet new clients and grieve those who had passed away during my vacation period.

I'm going to finish this post now. Later this week, I will be discussing another personal project - the Music Therapy Educational Collaborative Project (MTCEP) that I am currently finalizing. It's great to be back and nice to be blogging again! Thanks for visiting and post your comments to anything that you see.

Day 5 - Change is key!

Change is inevitable - that is a unchanging fact of life. How you choose to view it, positive or negative, is your decision. I would have to say that I sit on the "positive" side of the fence. One of the things I like best about my chosen career is that no two days are ever the same. Not only do I not see the same clients every day, I don't necessarily see the same client hour to hour. When working with clients with Alzheimer's type dementia, there is a period of time know as the "sundowning period". Not everyone believes that this effect occurs however I would have to say that, at the very least, it occurs quite frequently. Essentially, the agitation and restlessness of persons with Alzheimer's increases whenever "dusk" occurs. This can change throughout the year as during the winter months, the days are shorter - during the summer months, the days are longer. Music can be very beneficial in helping to increase relaxation and bring some measure of quietness on the unit. However, what worked one day may not work the next. I love the challenge of finding that "right mix of the familiar and unfamiliar" to create a positive effect in my work and clients.

This blog is another journey in change. I've never blogged before so I am not as familiar with the software as I should be. It has been a steep, but rewarding learning curve since I began this blog. Initially, I started with the simple textual based entry. I've since added a "comment" function, and you will note some major additions today. This includes a "upcoming conference and presentations" widget (or section) and a "free daily download" widget. One of my favorite musical genres is jazz. I find that, by visiting the AllAboutJazz website, I can introduce myself to artists and music that I would not ordinary find or become aware of! (And that is likely the purpose behind that widget).

Finishing up for today, I wanted to let you know that there will also be a change coming up in my postings. Between May 9th and May 25th I will be visiting my family in Ontario. As I will not always have internet access, postings may be more sporadic. I'll be taking the opportunity to work on another project - The Music Therapy Educational Collaboration Project that I will discuss further when I return home to Alberta.