Followers, New Years Resolutions, and Challenges

Welcome to The Music Therapy Repertoire Challenge!

This is Becky speaking.

We currently have 20 followers–Hello to you all!  Thank you for joining us on this journey!  To those of you who are not followers, there is a delightful button off to the right–Just sayin’.

Are you aware that there is only one day before the Challenge begins?

“What challenge,” you ask ingenuously?  It’s alright, you’re new here.  I totally understand.  Catherine and I are gearing up for a year of weekly challenges based around repertoire acquisition.  We’re starting off with our January theme that was announced two days ago (See Catherine’s post for more details)!  We hope that you come along for the ride.

With it being a new year and all, I can’t help but think about “New Years Resolutions.”

Personally, I gave up making resolutions in high school because I acknowledged that I never stuck to any of them, let alone remembered them past the ball dropping.  I experienced the count down to the new year as if it were a microwave timer, mundanely ticking by before I could pull out a bag of popcorn.  Instead of what it truly is: a holiday that acts as a reminder for the renewal of hope and the opportunity for change.

Perhaps I was complacent as an adolescent.  Perhaps I was sheltered, unambitious, and naive to have had no desire to challenge myself to change my habits and behaviors.  I have to admit: As I grow older, I do appreciate and embrace the desire to have a fresh start and to work hard to enact positive change in my life.  Maybe it’s something that comes with age–the awareness of time, its passing, and its finite nature.

All this led me to think about challenges in general.  We all have encountered a challenge at one point in our lives.  Superficial or profound, challenges can bring about success, failure, and growth (You thought I was just going to say |success| or |failure|, didn’t you?  You don’t know me that well yet, so I’ll let it slide this time). 😉

In my experience, challenges are not a “fork in the road,” situation.  There are not simply two outcomes.  I find that challenges can be a highway with many exits to choose from.  The simple act of engaging in a challenge can bring about awareness, change, and progress for yourself and others.  Being open to the opportunities that a challenge may bring is a brave, and mature response to the world around us.

I suppose I have a “New Years Resolution,” this year.  I have chosen to be a co-collaborator, and co-conspirator for The Music Therapy Repertoire Challenge.

I strongly encourage you to join us as we embark on this professional challenge.  Even if you only check in once, or twice, or monthly; I am sure that your creativity will be piqued, your thoughts sparked, and you may experience personal development.  Or who knows, you may inspire someone else. . .  You never know!

best wishes,

+Bb