(Today’s post is a short, but important, one. I got busy this week getting caught up on bookkeeping. Not my favorite task. Think my next luxury will be to hire bookkeepers.)
All music therapists are musicians first. We are performers and we love music.
As such, it’s important for our personal and professional health to nurture our inner musician. Yes, we play music daily, but we use to address non-musical goals. We are not playing music for the sake of making beautiful music.
We are busy. Jobs, husbands, kids, friends. It’s hard to find time to perform, to create our beautiful music. But it’s also so important because it’s our first love.
I had the opportunity to nurture my inner musician at our church’s cabaret last weekend. I sang “What More Do I Need?” from Sondheim’s show Saturday Night (I’ve never heard of that show before, you?). My husband recorded it and I wanted to share it with you. This clip also come with a challenge: what are you going to do this month to nurture your inner musician?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Kimberly! Great post, and yes, so important. In fact, I wrote about this recently, too. I think it is hard at this crazy busy time of the year to pay attention to our own inner musician, when there is so much else to do. I have been really struggling with this for the past month. My answer to your challenge question is that I am making the commitment to perform (once already, and two gigs scheduled in November). I love your video – you sound great!
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Orange You Glad It’s October? =-.
Hello, Kimberly,
So nice to hear you! This is such a good reminder that music therapists (and music educators) are musicians first! I used to tell the freshman voice studio singers “You are all music performance majors. You who are music therapists and music teachers will be using your voices MORE and singing more on a daily basis than the designated performance (ie opera) majors. You are ALL performance majors.”
Find time–no, make time to nurture your inner musician. Sing for the joy of it. Get some lessons or form a performance group with some friends where you can sing for each other and get some feedback. Instrumentalists, find or form a chamber group. The best way to avoid burnout is to keep the flame burning inside!
“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.”–Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Thanks for sharing your song!
Cynthia Vaughn
You sound great, Kimberly!
To answer your challenge: I play hand bells with a local church. I love having the chance to make music with a group and NOT have be in charge. It feels great to be around some really nice people and follow directions from someone else. Plus, I love swinging those heavy bells! 🙂
Thank you Michelle, Cynthia, and Rachel for your comments. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who struggles to find time to be my musician self:D Kimberly
Absolutely agreed, Kimberly! If we don’t take care of ourselves musically, how on earth can we expect to take care of our clients musically? To that end, I’m part of a great group in NJ called the Folk Project. They have get-togethers once a month at people’s houses and everyone sits in a great big circle and we all share and sing songs together. Even cooler, this month I release my second CD! Yay! Rock on, music therapist sisters and brothers!
.-= Roia´s last blog ..Battling inertia one session at a time =-.
Congratulations on your CD! That’s quite an accomplishment. ~Kimberly
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