by Rachel | Professional Development
Happy New Year! Another year has flashed before my eyes, as they all seem to do. I’ve been looking forward to sitting down and writing about my thoughts on 2016, but first I want to reflect on 2015.
At the start of what has proved to be the craziest year of my life thus far, I vowed to give myself more grace. However, I managed to do just the opposite: instead, I tried to be superwoman right out of the gate.
In the midst of settling into a new house and growing a baby, I took on two huge projects (creating a podcast and writing a songbook) all while growing my studio and private practice exponentially. I pushed myself mercilessly, staying up way too late and getting up early to fit it all in. I tricked myself into thinking I could handle ALL THE THINGS, and that I wasn’t sacrificing my own health and sanity.
But in December, I was done. The lack of sleep, along with the pressure I’d been putting on myself for the past 11 months, caught up with me, and I spent pretty much the entire month dealing with bronchitis, a bout of the flu, and just generally feeling terrible.
So at the end of the month, when my business partner Katey and I got together to plan for 2016, we came up with three words that would become our motto for the year:
Instead of adding to my plate, I’m putting things on the back burner. I’m focusing only on what matters most, with my family and health at the top of the list.
2015 was a lesson in what happens when self-care goes out the window, and it’s one I don’t want to learn again…ever. There will come a time when I’m not caring for an infant around the clock, when I’m sleeping through the night, when I have chunks of time for myself; but that time is not now. 2016 is about embracing that reality and adjusting my expectations accordingly.
I’m not setting any hard and fast resolutions or goals for myself this year, but there are some things I’d like to do that fit well with my 2016 motto, including:
- exercising regularly
- eating healthier
- going to bed earlier
- writing more often
- spending less time scrolling (internet/social media)
Every time I sense my proverbial plate starting to get a little too heavy, I’m coming back to those 3 words: simplify, streamline, self-care. I have a good feeling about this year, and I’m excited to see where it takes me. As I say every year, thanks for reading and coming along for the ride!
by Rachel | Family Life
It’s been a wild ride of a year, and I haven’t had much time to take a step back and really think about all the reasons I have to be thankful. But if ever there was a time to do so, it’s today. My husband took the kids to his parents’ house for breakfast, so I have just enough time to drink a cup of coffee and write a quick note to you on this Thanksgiving morning.
I’ll start by saying thank YOU for reading my blog — whether you’ve been here since the beginning in 2008 or just found your way here recently. I can’t express how grateful I am for every comment, email, song purchase, membership, and friendship formed over all these years.
I’d also like to thank you for your support as my business has evolved and grown, but especially in these last few months as we opened our first facility. One of my biggest blessings in life is my business partner, Katey; together we have taken Music Therapy Connections to a level that I only dreamed was possible — and we aren’t stopping there.
I’m also thankful to every single family who walks through our doors, because they are the reason we do what we do. They bring us so much joy and fullfillment every day, and help Katey, myself, and the rest of our team support our own families.
And that leads me to my ultimate blessing in life: my family. My husband Zach, our son Parker, and our daughter Mia are my world, and I’m so lucky to be living this adventure with them. But of course, our adventures wouldn’t be nearly as smooth and enjoyable without the rest of our family, most of whom live in our neighborhood :) We are eternally grateful to our parents for all that they do for us, from taking Parker to school every morning to buying endless clothes and toys to cooking for us throughout the week.
I’m looking forward to spending this holiday with all of them, and I hope you have the opportunity to spend the day with your loved ones, too. Thank you for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Speaking of counting blessings, click here to download my song “Count Your Blessings” for free. I use it all holiday season long to help my students realize the blessing in their own lives.
by Rachel | Professional Development
Another year, another wonderful national conference under my belt. I can’t believe this was my 7th — it seems like just yesterday I was a new professional attending #AMTA09 in San Diego.
This was my second time attending conference with a baby in tow, and I was extremely fortunate to have my mom with me as well to help. I did make sure that Mia made at least a few appearances, since there was a long list of music therapists waiting to hold her :)
The Music Therapy Round Table hosted a booth in the exhibit hall as usual, and we were lucky to have wonderful neighbors once again (Metro Music Therapy, Music Therapy E-Books, and Music Therapy Book Club). I spent quite a bit of time manning our booth, which meant I got to connect with lots of fellow professionals, interns and students.
Katey and I attended the Music Therapy Business Owners meeting on Friday and were inspired by all the amazing things happening in private practice. We all introduced ourselves and shared our biggest successes and challenges this year as business owners. It’s awesome to be a part of a community filled with like-minded, supportive colleagues.
Another highlight was running into my former internship director, Maria Carron Cavanagh. I hadn’t seen her since completing my internship at Midwest Music Therapy Services in May 2007, so we were able to catch up and I told her how influential she was in my decision to start a private practice.
I also ran into quite a few of the music therapists I’ve interviewed and gotten to know through my podcast, Guitars and Granola Bars. I feel like I know them so well after hearing their stories, so it was really nice getting to meet them face-to-face. Jennifer Whitlow, who was featured in Episode 41, also had her daughter with her!
I always look forward to recording our live episode of the MTRT podcast right at our booth in the exhibit hall, which we did on Saturday morning. We also drew winners of our raffle and shared the results of our fun little survey.
This was my shortest conference experience yet, since I didn’t arrive until Thursday afternoon and then left on Saturday. I’m looking forward to next year when I’m neither pregnant nor will I have a child with me; it will be the first time in 4 years I can fully immerse myself without fighting morning sickness or taking breaks to feed the baby.
Happy baby getting ready to hit the road! This was Mia’s first roadtrip, and overall, she did wonderfully in the car. Towards the end, we were both anxious to get home to Zach and Parker (who had a great time during their “boys weekend” together).
See you at #AMTA16 in Sandusky, Ohio!
by Rachel | Motherhood
I thought I was going to hate it. I still worked from home during Parker’s first year, so “pumping at work” meant walking from my home studio to my kitchen.
This time around, I was completely dreading having to remember my pump and parts every day, haul everything back and forth, and then set up shop in my studio between clients.
It took a few days to get the routine down, but once I did, something completely unexpected happened: I started looking forward to my pumping break.
It’s only 15 minutes, and I have to hurry through the prep and cleanup, but the time spent actually pumping gives me a chance to relax my brain for a few minutes. My afternoons and evenings are otherwise nonstop with back to back students, clients and groups, so it’s nice to be able to check my email, scroll through Facebook, and have a snack.
I’m lucky in that I was able to structure my days so that I only have to pump once; I would probably enjoy it much less if I had to pump multiple times throughout the day. And ask me in May how I feel about pumping at work…I’m pretty sure I’ll be over it at that point.
Two months in, though, I’m happy to have this tiny bit of downtime in my day. As long as I have a lock on my door and a fridge for storage, I’ll keep on keeping on.
by Rachel | Motherhood
For a while there, it seemed almost too easy, too good to be true. I had a newborn who slept amazingly, which meant I was getting enough sleep to keep up with both her and my toddler during the day and still wake up before the sun to get some work done.
I was nailing the whole business-owning, working mom of 2 thing…until I wasn’t. Mia stopped sleeping through the night about a month ago, and right around the same time, life seemed to amp up to a speed that I just haven’t been able to keep up with so far.
There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done, my house is never clean enough, my to-do list is way too long, I’m always tired, and I feel like everything I do is only half done.
People constantly ask me how I “do it all” and from now on, I’m going to share this blog post with them. Because I know as moms we’ve all been at this point, and I’m clearly no exception.
This is just a short season in my life, and I’m sure in a year I’ll look back at these photos and wish for squishy little baby cuddles again. But I would be lying if I said it wasn’t hard, and that it’s rainbows and butterflies every day.
I love my kids and I love my work, I just don’t love constantly feeling pulled between the two. And though I’m thankful to have a successful business, it’s hard not to resent an inbox full of emails when I just want to enjoy the weekend with my family.
I’ve interviewed 40+ fellow music therapists — many of whom are also business owners and ALL of whom are moms — for my podcast, so by now I know there is no magic formula for balancing life and work. And that piece of knowledge does make me feel a tiny bit better, but it still doesn’t make life any easier.
I’m not writing this to complain; I suppose the reason I’m writing this is to make you feel better, especially if you were one of the people that thought I had it all together. And you know what? Admitting that I don’t is amazingly cathartic.
