I would like to this Laura Wiley of Team Wiley for the brilliant name for this mini-series! I couldn't have even begun this journey without her inspiration! :)
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Cat-tastic Episode 9
Back in the car... I apologize for the fact you really can't see a thing in this video... I was recording in the car and thanks to daylight savings it's pitch black at 7:00pm.
Cat-tastic Episode 8
Unfortunately, we were not able to get actual footage of the photo shoot itself as we were both manhandling the cats trying to keep them from running off. The photographer informed us that she was in fact allergic to cats so she was not going to be able to touch them in any way, shape, or form. This ultimately meant that it was up to us to do the posing and up to us if the cats got loose... We would get the photographer who was allergic. I'll have to do a separate blog post describing the photo shoot b/c it was hysterical to say the least... and to post our picture which I'm feel speaks for itself. BUT here is me pushing the Casanova out of the mall. My favorite part is my pushing a cat stroller with Loft in the background!!
Cat-tastic Episode 7
Sitting at the studio waiting for our photo shoot to begin...
This video is a little quite as I was trying not to talk to loud and disrupt the other patrons.
Cat-tastic Episode 5 and 6
Into the mall.... First video is of us actually walking into the mall... Second video is outside of the studio
Cat-tastic Episode 1
Well my dear readers! Do I most certainly have an adventure planned for your viewing pleasure! This evening, my phenomenal husband (who always goes along with my cray cray ideas and never seems to complain) and I decided to take our 2 cats for a family photo shoot outing. What are you thinking Jessica?? You might ask... and that is a very, very good question to ask indeed... It was a rather impromptu decision I must say and not one that was very well thought through at time it occurred. It was in fact based on the availability of a certain groupon. Most of you know that I am always one for a bargain and when I find a bargain I most certainly cannot resist, so I bought said groupon for a photo shoot and decided the only logical thing to do with such a cheap photo shoot was to bring the cats along. Thus the following journey resulted. We journeyed far and wide to a place of photography inside a mall... Please enjoy the videos! :)
Thursday, September 20, 2012
I Know
I have client that I see whom I lovingly refer to as my little old lady or sometimes just my little lady. The reality of the situation is that she's really not all that old at all. In fact, she's quite young to have a dementia diagnosis and she's rather progressed in the disease at this stage. But regardless, I LOVE, with my WHOLE HEART, seeing her and her INCREDIBLE daughter... There's something so magical about my time with them and honestly they appreciate what I do and music therapy in a way that few of my other clients can truly comprehend. Music gives something back to them... It gives them these magical, beautiful moments filled with laughter and smiles... Moments that maybe they wouldn't otherwise have together. And I know in those moments I share with them that I am so blessed to be a part of their story, their journey.
Let's be real my dear readers, life on this earth is but a breath. Should our moments not be as special and happy as we can make them?
When I was seeing my little lady this week something happened that struck me so hard I got in my car and sobbed on the way home. It was a very brief interaction, but enough to slap me in the face. I'm sitting with my little lady and her daughter. Daughter makes a comment about not having seen my little lady since our music therapy session the previous week and how she is a 'bad daughter'. I look at her and say "you are NOT a bad daughter." At which point I look at my little lady and say "tell her... she's a GREAT daughter." Daughter looks at my little lady and says "she'll never say that..."
And those 4 words ripped me to shreds... She'll never say that...
Now I'm not sure what exactly Daughter meant by that. Daughter has a very good sense of humor so maybe she was just joking around... But the truth in this situation is that my little lady is at a late enough stage in the disease that she probably won't ever say those words. So saying "she'll never say that" is quite an accurate statement.
But my biggest fear is that maybe... just maybe... my little lady had never told her daughter that she is so very incredible...
As I sobbed, I had to call my mom on the way home from this session. I had to ask my mom to tell me that I was good daughter... (Never fear, sweet readers... She said that I was an awesome daughter.) But I had to hear HER say it; I had to hear her voice. Because if the day comes (and I pray to God above that it NEVER comes) and my mom can no longer speak to me, can no longer tell me, maybe doesn't even know me, I never want to say "she'll never say that."
If the day comes that I have to hire a board certified music therapist for my mom, and that therapist looks me in the eye and says "YOU are a great daughter," I want to say "I know. She told me. And I know she meant it."
So dear readers, hold your loved ones tight. Tell them what they mean to you so that if the day comes that YOU are no longer present, THEY never have to guess and they too can say "I know."
Let's be real my dear readers, life on this earth is but a breath. Should our moments not be as special and happy as we can make them?
When I was seeing my little lady this week something happened that struck me so hard I got in my car and sobbed on the way home. It was a very brief interaction, but enough to slap me in the face. I'm sitting with my little lady and her daughter. Daughter makes a comment about not having seen my little lady since our music therapy session the previous week and how she is a 'bad daughter'. I look at her and say "you are NOT a bad daughter." At which point I look at my little lady and say "tell her... she's a GREAT daughter." Daughter looks at my little lady and says "she'll never say that..."
And those 4 words ripped me to shreds... She'll never say that...
Now I'm not sure what exactly Daughter meant by that. Daughter has a very good sense of humor so maybe she was just joking around... But the truth in this situation is that my little lady is at a late enough stage in the disease that she probably won't ever say those words. So saying "she'll never say that" is quite an accurate statement.
But my biggest fear is that maybe... just maybe... my little lady had never told her daughter that she is so very incredible...
As I sobbed, I had to call my mom on the way home from this session. I had to ask my mom to tell me that I was good daughter... (Never fear, sweet readers... She said that I was an awesome daughter.) But I had to hear HER say it; I had to hear her voice. Because if the day comes (and I pray to God above that it NEVER comes) and my mom can no longer speak to me, can no longer tell me, maybe doesn't even know me, I never want to say "she'll never say that."
If the day comes that I have to hire a board certified music therapist for my mom, and that therapist looks me in the eye and says "YOU are a great daughter," I want to say "I know. She told me. And I know she meant it."
So dear readers, hold your loved ones tight. Tell them what they mean to you so that if the day comes that YOU are no longer present, THEY never have to guess and they too can say "I know."
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Nuts and Bolts
Over the last few weeks and increasingly days, I have begun to feel a growing sense of isolation and dissatisfaction. I'm not really sure what my problem is, but I sorely know that my focus is not on the right things... You know that feeling you get when everything that could go wrong is going wrong all at once. That's where I'm at. I'm in a funk of the worst kind that I'm not sure I can get out of. I'm having an incredibly hard time keeping perspective.
For example (a petty one, but an example nonetheless), over the last year and a half I've lost 35 pounds. This is a number far greater than I anticipated losing, far beyond the goal weight I had originally set for myself. BUT for whatever reason, I now have some VERY arbitrary number in my head of what I want to weigh... and I'm 5 pounds away from weighing that and I canNOT seem to get rid of the last 5 pounds. They just refuse to budge. It all makes me feel horribly depressed because all I can seem to see is where I so badly want to be and not, in fact, how far I've come....
My perspective is all screwy...
Another example, I think I feel really hurt right now as well. Hurt by people that I thought cared about me. I can't seem to let it go, I just seem to keep dwelling on it. It's like I'm feeling some sense of entitlement to an apology or an acknowledgement that I was wronged by the parties who wronged me. But I'm not entitled to that... not in the least bit...
My perspective is all screwy...
I have not one, not two, not three, but four family members that are having health issues right now. Two of those four family members have health issues that are life threatening. All four of those families members live in a different state. I can't even be there with them or offer any sort of support to them or to my other family members. It makes me feel helpless and worthless and extremely isolated. What good am I, if I am of no use to the people that I love the most?
My perspective is all screwy...
I feel like I'm putting forth my best effort professionally and personally and so often I feel like the bad guy. It makes me not want to try anymore.
Well, you know what comes next...
My dear friend, Erin, and I often used to refer to ourselves as "nuts and bolts in the mud" when we were in college. We felt like our professors didn't value us as students or young professionals or even people. We felt we were being torn down like a house that has been reduced to nuts and bolts in the mud. It was clear that our professors had their share of "favorites" (just between you and me, it was usually the ones who watched their kids) and we didn't make the cut of "favorites". In retrospect, we may have been being a little melodramatic, but what is life without a little drama here and there?
So what, my dear readers (if you are still reading my blog or happen to stumble upon it), do I do? What do you do? How do you pick yourself up when you've fallen and all you really want to do is stay on the ground? How do you build your house again when you feel like all you have are nuts and bolts in the mud?
For example (a petty one, but an example nonetheless), over the last year and a half I've lost 35 pounds. This is a number far greater than I anticipated losing, far beyond the goal weight I had originally set for myself. BUT for whatever reason, I now have some VERY arbitrary number in my head of what I want to weigh... and I'm 5 pounds away from weighing that and I canNOT seem to get rid of the last 5 pounds. They just refuse to budge. It all makes me feel horribly depressed because all I can seem to see is where I so badly want to be and not, in fact, how far I've come....
My perspective is all screwy...
Another example, I think I feel really hurt right now as well. Hurt by people that I thought cared about me. I can't seem to let it go, I just seem to keep dwelling on it. It's like I'm feeling some sense of entitlement to an apology or an acknowledgement that I was wronged by the parties who wronged me. But I'm not entitled to that... not in the least bit...
My perspective is all screwy...
I have not one, not two, not three, but four family members that are having health issues right now. Two of those four family members have health issues that are life threatening. All four of those families members live in a different state. I can't even be there with them or offer any sort of support to them or to my other family members. It makes me feel helpless and worthless and extremely isolated. What good am I, if I am of no use to the people that I love the most?
My perspective is all screwy...
I feel like I'm putting forth my best effort professionally and personally and so often I feel like the bad guy. It makes me not want to try anymore.
Well, you know what comes next...
My dear friend, Erin, and I often used to refer to ourselves as "nuts and bolts in the mud" when we were in college. We felt like our professors didn't value us as students or young professionals or even people. We felt we were being torn down like a house that has been reduced to nuts and bolts in the mud. It was clear that our professors had their share of "favorites" (just between you and me, it was usually the ones who watched their kids) and we didn't make the cut of "favorites". In retrospect, we may have been being a little melodramatic, but what is life without a little drama here and there?
So what, my dear readers (if you are still reading my blog or happen to stumble upon it), do I do? What do you do? How do you pick yourself up when you've fallen and all you really want to do is stay on the ground? How do you build your house again when you feel like all you have are nuts and bolts in the mud?
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