My last post was very cynical, and perhaps rightfully so. The world is on fire, after all. Literally, if you consider the fact that it’s almost January and it has yet to truly snow in my dear old home of Michigan, a land renowned for its wintery scenery. We had a white Christmas, though!
Outside of global catastrophes like climate change, though, life’s been pretty good, if hectic. This is my final week in Michigan before my big move to Indiana, which still doesn’t feel entirely real. The wife and I have been scrambling trying to get things in order before we leave. We bought my car, for one, which feels nice. I own a car. And like, not a shitty one. It feels good, man.
I don’t know if I’m ready to live so far from everyone and everything I know. The closest I came to anything of this caliber was my failed move to Florida after my life in Michigan imploded following the implosion of my old band and my failure to procure a big girl job with my newly minted journalism degree (which is about as useful to me as an expired car wash coupon). I moved back after a miserable month of flying roaches, nonstop tropical rainstorms, and a sad existence as a Sonic carhop.
But I have a good feeling about this move. The internship at Mainstay Music Therapy will be a rewarding one I feel, and one that will likely prepare me for my work in the field. I worked my ass off to procure this internship, and I’ll be damned if I don’t make the best of it. I’ve learned most of the songs off the repertoire list, I’ve refreshed my memory on the basics of music therapy, and now all that’s left for me to do is jump in and get my feet wet in the real world.
We’ll be staying at a quaint AirBNB for the extent of the internship, an upstairs apartment inside a fanciful green historic home in downtown Fort Wayne, and I’m pretty excited to make this little place a home for the next six months.
I’ve also been scoping out the local hotspots on Instagram. There’s a coffee shop inside a conservatory, a few different local stores that look promising, and even a gay bar. That’s right — apparently Fort Wayne has a surprisingly robust lesbian scene. Will this be the arc where my wife finally finds another partner? I hope so — this polyamory thing feels very unbalanced with me having multiple partners and my wife having no one aside from me. Which is a damn shame, as she’s absolutely adorable and deserves an entire harem of cute girls by her side.
My biggest hope for this new chapter is for me to figure out what I’m doing with the rest of my life. The dream is to open my own private practice akin to Mainstay in the Detroit area. I know it’ll take a lot of work, and I’m determined to make it happen. “Determined” — that’s the word I wrote as my “word of the year” for 2024, and it feels right. I’m determined to get through this internship, pass the board examination, and get my career off the ground. Maybe I’ll go back and get my master’s degree. Maybe I’ll work in the field for a bit at a school or hospital or another practice. Maybe I’ll jump right in and start working as a free agent. There are so many possibilities, and I’m determined to make something work. As a wise man once said, “success is my only motherfuckin’ option, failure’s not.”
I’ll maintain this blog while I’m in Indiana to keep y’all updated on the goings-on of my life. I can’t promise consistency, but this corner of the internet is where you can continue to expect to see the musings and observations of Jessa Joyce, whoever it is she’s becoming. I hope she’s becoming something great, and I hope this move will be the stepping stone she needs to realize her power.
Here’s to a new year, a new state, and a new adventure.
JESSA JOYCE 