Monday, October 3, 2011

Music month

> A nice announcement from the governor, and possibly something some Texas MT's could capitalize on…
>
> Texas is world-renowned for its eclectic music scene. Marked by the contributions of musical legends such as Buddy Holly, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top and Selena, Texans have made an incalculable contribution to music. That is why we say, "You can't hear American music without hearing Texas."
>
> The Lone Star State has long enjoyed a wealth of great musical artists. With its phenomenal growth during the last two decades, Texas' music industry competes internationally to attract songwriters, performers and industry professionals. With nearly 8,000 regularly performing Texas bands and ensembles, the music business is a vibrant and important sector of our economy, providing jobs as well as entertainment for this great state. Our music industry also sparks tourism, as visitors from across the country travel to Texas for festivals such as South by Southwest.
>
> To highlight the importance of the Texas music industry and recognize the accomplishments of our many great musicians, an appreciation campaign is being conducted during the month of October.
>
> At this time, I encourage all Texans to recognize the many contributions of the music industry and those who create great music in our state.
>
> Therefore, I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, do hereby proclaim October 2011 to be
> Texas Music Month
>
>
> in Texas, and urge the appropriate
> recognition whereof.
>
> In official recognition whereof,
> I hereby affix my signature this the
> 11th day of September, 2011.
>
> Governor of Texas
>
> http://governor.state.tx.us/music/files/directory/texas-music-month.pdf
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> List guidelines for topics and formatting can be found at:
> http://www.preludemusictherapy.com/musictherapy.html
> Please read and follow! Thanks!Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musictherapy/
>
> <*> Your email settings:
> Individual Email | Traditional
>
> <*> To change settings online go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musictherapy/join
> (Yahoo! ID required)
>
> <*> To change settings via email:
> musictherapy-digest@yahoogroups.com
> musictherapy-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> musictherapy-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>

Saturday activities

I have been meaning to write this since Saturday and I keep getting bogged down with emotional breakdowns and pre-ride stress...so here goes.

I think that Maggie's horse, Dixie, may be one of the most underrated NATRC horses ever. She's not built that well, but Maggie adores her. She can be a bit stubborn and her maneuverability is a little tricky...she gets stuck a lot. Not anyone can ride her. While she's incredibly safe and trustworthy, she's also very forward and sometimes will demonstrate her displeasure at someone inexperienced hopping on by going faster than they prefer. She's honest, so she never bucks or does anything nasty, but if you aren't watching out you'll be back at the gate before you know it.  What I love about riding Dixie, and having Maggie ride Dixie is that she is so incredibly steady.  With the exception of spooking at the occasional cut log (which is mostly signified by stopping) she will keep chugging in her own rhythm, for a long, long time.  She is pretty fast at the trot and i don't much like her canter (but that's OK b/c she's not my horse) and she would rather rather trot anyway. Saturday, maggie and I swapped horses for awhile (she rode Liberty) and I was blown away by how steady she is in her natural rhythm. The problem is that she's a little fast for her own good and can blow her own P&R's by rating difficulty...but when you rate her, sometimes she's tense and her back is sore, so I wonder if she's not better off just chugging along. Her nice, easy, comfortable trot is Liberty's canter. He used to trot big too, but one day discovered it was easier to do a slow slop and so now that's what he does, but Dixie just trots and trots.  Maggie is going to try open on her again next year. She was successful in two rides in 2010, but over the summer Dixie didn't sweat and then she wasn't ridden b/c she wasn't sweating so the fall rides didn't go so well for her...but next year will be different as we've found a  way to manage her issues through dietary changes. 

In other news, Joe Bear went to a new home Saturday. Right now, it's just a trial to see if they get along. He will be a child's pony and keep an old thoroughbred company while his Percheron cross counterpoint is showing in dressage.  They tell me he's settling in great and they have a way for him to be able to eat more than I could manage. We'll know in a couple weeks if it's going to work out or not. Watching him run around their pasture, it was hard to believe that he is an old man of at least 36.  He acted more like 15 or younger.  It was hard when he chased us down the driveway after the trailer, but I know that he will be happy and get tons of attention.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

addendum on yesterday's post

I was thinking more about my subject yesterday and I think why I am bothered so much is that people lie.  I try to be honest and straight forward. I won't call in sick if I'm not sick. If I need a day off, I generally just say so and try to reschedule.  I find myself so frustrated with the incongruity of my clients.  They don't tell me there is ever anything wrong, so I never have a chance to fix it.  Like last spring with that one client. I really thought we all got along great, so it was a real blow to my pocket book (two hours per week) and my emotions to find out that they didn't like the way I was scheduling them. I never even had a chance to fix it. Then recently the program manager asked if I could come back on with the understanding we'd have to have a set day and time and they refused. Their reasons were that I was too talkative (which I know was a problem at first, but swear I fixed) and the scheduling issue...which is also fixed by warrant of the fact that I am taking my schedule more seriously than I used to a year ago...and I'm so busy I don't have time to rearrange anything, so I try to never have to change things up if possible.  I'm starting to believe that their discontinuation of the service had very little to do with me, and more to do with their own lives. This client was involved in PT, OT, horse and aqua therapy.  So, they were super busy. They frequently canceled on me...yet when they had something to say to my "boss" it was all my fault. I just find it so depressing. yes, I have to move forward and yes, I am good at lots of things, but working for other people doesn't seem to be one of them.  This scares me for the future. I want to work with and play nice with others. I want to figure out why I am such a target for mistreatment. It almost seems sport for those who don't like me to beat me up...and yes, that makes me sound really paranoid.  Anyway, blogging about it does help kind of get it off my chest. I know that these things are in the past, but I'm still stinging from the weight of my past mistakes.  I would like to think that showing up every week counts for something, but evidently the small things that I do wrong count for more. Wouldn't it be nice just to be perfect?

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Crisis of Spirit

I have never been a highly popular person. I'm someone who is loved by the friends I have (and I love them back) and I'm considered friendly in new meeting situations. Whether or not new acquaintances become friends is questionable though it is is known that I get along and know a fair number of people, even if many fall into the acquaintance category. The main problem is that I talk too much. I always have. I'd like to think I won't forever but I probably will. My good friends just know that's who I am. Sometimes in work settings it has been a problem but most of my clients just know that's me and since we like each other it's no big deal. Sometimes even through my greatest efforts to be what I consider quiet, it's not enough. This has not been a complaint in awhile but it haunts me even when no one is complaining. Sometimes people want a quiet massage and sometimes people talk. I try to follow the lead of my client so that I do the right thing. Sometimes the client talks and their parents want a quiet massage and that's where it gets tricky for me. Quiet I can do and talk I can do but staying quiet when they are talking is hard. I get sucked into the conversation. This all came up the other day when I lost the client for texting. Whenever something like this happens i find myself questioning all behavior. Was I answering a call or text when someone thought I shouldn't have been? Or did I talk too much? Did I change schedule too often? The whole reason I'm self employed is to be able to change up my schedule but that one always seems to bite me. Then after I fret awhile and nothing else bad happens I'll feel ok but I always find myself feeling like the next shoe will drop. I want to know why some clients are so hard to please? And why I find myself displeasing people I thought I had good rapport with? And further I wonder why people feel the need to blame the therapist when they decide to drop a service when it wasn't really her fault? For example: last winter I got dropped from a client because they said I changed my schedule too much. This was after they cancelled me to weeks at Christmas and I missed a week because of snow and ice. I asked to change the next week's schedule to see her before the next storm hit. Then there was the week two weeksblater that I took off which I had been telling them was going to happen since December. So I got dropped from them and I had thought we were all good. I always ask if I need to make a change. I don't just tell them I'm changing. So I find my work frustrating and my self confidence is often damaged. I feel 'wrong' a lot of the time. I wish that I didn't dread getting in trouble all the time. It's very stressful and it always hits me hard.

So I have complained about being dropped. I need to state, for all my client's parents who read my blog and are my friends on Facebook none of these stories are you! I love all my people and like to please them. I think the biggest source of stress is thinking things are good and finding out they weren't too late to fix it. And it seems like they are all clients belonging to one program manager, which continues to make me look bad and costs me more clients.