Hello again! It’s been another month here, which must mean it’s time for another blog update! I’m now just about a month out from my internship here being done, which is hard to believe – I feel like I’ve learned so much and been so busy recently that it just feels like everything is flying by. As things are getting busier here with all final projects coming do and having to figure out what I’m doing next, something that really has become more and more important recently has been self-care.
It’s always something that I’ve struggled with, especially when I’m busy with school/work, and especially because most of my self-care practices are creative (and after a day of being creative all day at work, it can be hard to do more of the same at home later). What I’ve realized recently though, is that the type of creativity is really what is important, though not above just that the thing is done for its own sake. Outside of musical creativity, crafting and storytelling have become my main methods of self-care. Being able to see physical progress while working on knitting a scarf or working on a quilt is rewarding, as is the actual grounding act of creating with a simple, repetitive pattern. As a player in several tabletop rpg games, storytelling in that way has become my ‘recess’ – no matter what else is going on, I know I’ll always have a couple of hours each week to sit down and call my friends and to play pretend together telling our stories. It’s a chance to be silly and play pretend that we don’t often get as adults (but for sure do still need). They both are just activities that offer similar things to what music can offer – a place for community, for connection, and for fun. And really, that’s what self-care is all about (though the method varies per person) – even more so for therapists, because we then in turn are offering some of the same to the people we see throughout the week.
Until next time,
Sarah
