Inspired!

Hello Friends!

It’s been a busy few weeks around here.  Last week was spring break so I had the blessing of 3 boys hanging out with me. They are back in school this week which frees up my time but my it’s always startling to get back to the quiet after the house being full 24-7!

So, my husband and I were recently discussing the possibility of me going to a music conference.  I had looked into several possibilities, and though he was very supportive, I decided not to go to any of them.  I told him what I really wanted was to find a group of people that were doing what I’m doing- that’s who I want to go to a conference with.  Here’s the problem- I’m not sure what I “do” yet!  My interests with music are quite broad and fuzzy, and I know more about what I’m not than what I am!  For now that’s a wonderful thing- it gives me a lot of room to explore and learn.

Funny enough, the timing of this conversation was the same week as a hospice training I had decided to attend.  One of the areas that really interests me right now is music therapy.  Though I’m not trained specifically as a music therapist, I can definitely volunteer as a musician through hospice to share music as a way of providing comfort.  The first day of the training (there are 4 days total), as we went around the table and talked about why we had come to the training, I was struck by how similar our answers were.  I was the young ‘un, for sure, but we all had a desire to nurture and bring peace and comfort to the others with the various gifts we’d been given.  I immediately felt a kinship with these other women, and wondered if I had found “my people.”

During the training, one of the women recommended to me a video that I found that evening on Amazon Prime called “Alive Inside.”  It’s all about how music affects us, particularly those struggling with Alzheimer’s.  What an inspiring video!  I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.  Here is a portion of it.  The full-length film is a little over an hour.

After viewing this movie and feeling excited about the impact I could have on the elderly through music, I ended up stumbling across this neat work: “Music is Medicine.”

So today I drove over to one of the nursing homes in town and gave them my business card and discussed the possibilities of how I could share my music there, and next week I’ll go into the Alzheimer’s unit and have a little music time with a few of the residents.  I’m excited!

Sometimes I forget how powerful music is.  Today was a good reminder.

Cheers!

Love

Laura