Was blind, but now I see – A True Miracle!

If you’re a music therapist, the you know the song TOO WELL!!! Amazing Grace. It’s only the most popular, most requested, most touching song for many of our clients. In this case, it actually came true for my Aunt Fran – “…was blind, but now I see!”

5 people in my family have a condition called retinitis pigmentosa. You learn about your diagnosis between ages 18 and 22 because you can no longer see stars. You become “night-blind.” Then peripheral vision starts closing in, and you get blind spots.

So, if you have a little kid running around the house, it’s easy to step on him! Or … going to late-night bars, concerts, and dinners turns into more of an auditory, bumper-car experience. You have to hang on to people’s elbows to know when you’re coming close to stairs.

It certainly has an effect on activities of daily living.

Here’s the great news:

My Aunt Fran has been visually impaired for 40 years, completely blind for the past 10… She recently went through a new experimental procedure, and now she can see. Check the video – It’s INCREDIBLE!

We’d love to get the word out, so please share this with your friends. Also, please donate to the Foundation Fighting Blindness to support research efforts like the one for Aunt Fran!

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Do I need a website to build a business?

A lot of my coaching clients get stuck on the tech-aspect of creating a business.

After all, this is the day of DIGITAL. Chances are, the first place people go to find you is Google. Smart phones have changed the world – Apps, social, techie, searchable, review-based…. The list goes on for digital!

But let’s say that tech is not your strength. AND let’s say you’re a one-woman (or man) show, starting from ground up. How do you set your priorities? Here are my two cents for Kate in Texas:

Tweet this: For #MusicTherapy business owners: Don’t get stuck with tech! Have faith in PEOPLE, not technology.

What’s YOUR advice or experience to share with Kate?

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Creating Rhythm in the Smart Age

goodman01Guest Post by Jordan Goodman, MS

There’s an early scene in the movie “Her,” depicting a probable reality of the not-so-distant future. Theodore (played by Joaquin Phoenix) is riding the subway, communicating only with his empathic “smart” device. And so is everyone else. We have never had the ability to be so connected. We have never been so isolated.

This profound irony will continue to crystallize as new generations are born into an increasingly advanced Smart Age. With this, a growing hunger for more authentic connections will continue to manifest. Something deeper and more meaningful. We experience this in two distinct ways—and drumming can offer a solution!

1. Connection with yourself
Like many of you, I would constantly hear about the benefits of mindfulness meditation. This practice has endured in some form throughout every major religion. Modern science was beginning to catch up too.

Regrettably, it just felt so intangible and foreign to me. But when I was 20, I read something similar to “Mindfulness for Dummies” in my college library. As I sat there, focusing on the breath entering and exiting my nostrils, the intrusive thoughts immediately appeared. “What the hell am I doing?” “This is stupid.” “When will it start working?”

I kept at it though, practicing 2 minutes here and 5 minutes there—for years. And like the muscle memory you develop with an instrument, mindfulness mediation became more natural. It was no longer something I only “practiced,” but an entirely new way of experiencing myself and my world. Then it hit me — I had actually been practicing mindfulness for 2 hours everyday after high school when I rushed home to play my drum set. Continue Reading →

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3 Fear-Confronting Truths I’ve Learned

Dr. Wendy MageeTo the left is Dr. Wendy Magee sharing her expertise on technology and clinical practice in music therapy! Check out her new book at Amazon here.

Today I was honored to speak at the Online Conference for Music Therapy. It was a ton of fun – I love presenting, and I love allowing the audience’s energy to rejuvenate my own. The participants were AMAZING, so insightful and full of wisdom.

Here are 3 things I’ve learned from my own exponential, crazy growth in the past year – personally and professionally:

  1. You gotta PISS OFF the 80% of people who do not subscribe to your WACKY, SCARY vision and mission. That way, the 20% minority of people who “get it” will LOVE you and your contributions all the more.
  2. People will drop out of your life, and let you know that you’re a freak. With every new evolution of yourself, you will hear new opinions and perspectives from others that you’ve never heard before, and never imagined would be coming your way! And that’s a good thing, because then and only then do you know that you are honing in on that 20% of brilliant people.
  3. I will continue to have emotional reactions to others, even when my own evolution is absolutely, no doubt, the best move for my career. And my emotional reactions are such valuable insights into my own fears. And then the information I gather from experiencing my FEARS becomes an opportunity to learn about myself on a deeper level: how I handle, work through, harness the power of, and overcome these fears in life and business. It’s a beautiful cycle.

Here’s my commitment: I will to tune in, listen closely, and study the 20% who share my idea here :: Therapists who step INTO the executive position of CEO are able to serve more people, provide more jobs, and make the impact they’ve always dreamed of.

And hey! If you happen to be in the 20% of awesomeness in the world, then join me and Tim in this virtual conference….
You will TOTALLY dig it: http://empower-u-academy.com/live (There’s a deadline, so jump on it fast.)

Continue Reading →

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8 Great Marketing Books + True Kat Confessions

In 2003 – 2004, I went through a really difficult time. I was in south France teaching at an English immersion camp called American Village. Best. Job. Ever. During one of our off-weekends, a friend and I visited Nice. That’s when I put my bag (mon sac) on the ground at the train station, and it all started rolling out…

(Life hasn’t always been full of fun corporate drumming like it was last Friday! Thanks Jessie Johnson for this pic!)
Corporate Team Building, San Diego

Money and Security Problems

Someone stole my bag in France. They did it so well, that I didn’t even notice right away. It was bizarre. They were true professionals. Many sentimental items were stolen, including a spontaneous poem that a romantic Italian wrote about us while we were visiting the Vatican. But other items included: our train tickets to the next stop, all of my cash, my drivers license, my passport, my credit cards, all of my toiletries, my journal, and there were some more but I can’t remember.

Imagine being in France with ZERO passport, credit cards, identification, cash. Fortunately my friend Sauce (camp name) was with me, lent me some cash, and sent me off to Marseilles to get an emergency passport.

Health Problems

That was only the beginning. That day became the first day of my 28-day long stress-induced period which caused me to black out and stay bed ridden, in France, at camp, for 3 days.

Romantic Problems

Then my boyfriend came to tour Switzerland with me. We broke up on the trip. This wasn’t just *any* boyfriend. This was love-of-my-life, write-me-love-poems, look-into-my-soul-with-your-eyes boyfriend. We traveled solo after hugging in the cobble-stone streets of some small Swiss town at 11PM for 2 hours straight, not letting go for the entire 2-hour duration.

Continue Reading →

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