Jennysha's job log: 13
Jennysha Patel
- July 2009.
The story so far… Jennysha graduated two years ago, and is looking for ways into publishing. Meanwhile she combines work in a bookshop and a library.
Time to think, with clarity
I’m on holiday right now. Won’t say too much about it, other than the fact that it’s a family holiday. Enough said. I’ve decided to keep this blog totally relevant to the magazine in which it is featured. I have deviated a little from the subject matter of jobs and careers in my last few blogs, and whilst it’s great for me to get things off my mind, I think it’s time I kept it real. So here goes.
Being on holiday means that I have had time to think. A lot. Thinking normally makes me stress and worry and go back into old ways of being - ways that I am trying my hardest to stop and get rid of altogether. However, this thinking that I’ve been doing has been rather beneficial. It has been clear thinking; it has clarified a lot of issues for me - work-related and social life-related.
Taking the plunge
I mentioned in a previous blog about how important I think spontaneity is. I stick by that statement and lately have been feeling stronger than ever - why should I put my life on hold in order to live? By live, I mean having my own independence, doing what makes me happy - just the little things everyday. In a nutshell, having my own place. I always anticipated having a ‘proper’ job; a graduate position which I would work at for a good few years and which would be the start of my career and perhaps most importantly, would be in a city away from home. I would have my own place and be living on my own terms and enjoying my life my way. However, always being undecided and afraid, my past and current job choices have not really led me away from Coventry. Since university, I have learnt a lot and realised I have to adapt and make my life ‘liveable’ while I am in the here and now, not just dream of how amazing my life will be once I have flown the nest. Right now, though, I think I am ready to overcome my fears and stop compromising my values and take the plunge. It’s a (secret) work in progress but if I’m going to move out, this year’s got to be the year, right? I’m already on my mission for change anyway, what’s another challenge to the life long list?
Plus life, work-wise, is going pretty good for me. I was unemployed and miserable and then finally got the jobs I really wanted and feel I am making a considerable effort to get onto the path of publishing (my next plans are to secure some work experience or at least a stint shadowing someone in the industry). Why ruin a good thing, right? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all. I think I’d be foolish to just stop all I’m doing and up and leave to the opportunity-laden streets of London city to fulfil a dream which I think in this current climate might be a little harder than normal.
I'll decide myself
A week or so ago, I was being questioned by a colleague at the library about ‘what I do’ and whether I’m at college or university. I answered that I had graduated three years ago and that I was working part-time at the library and at a bookshop. This particular colleague isn’t someone that I talk to regularly or who I even have much to say to. In fact, she really rather annoys me. She has a very pessimistic vibe about her and often complains about having to work, God forbid. This ‘conversation’ was no different - with her making irritating assumptions that I am working at the moment in stop-gap jobs, because there’s no way that I could actually enjoy what I do and have made the choice myself to be working where I am because I want to. I mentioned my publishing plans to her and she replied with a very defeatist kind of attitude - you know like those people who constantly ask questions and then answer them themselves with ‘you can’t do that because...’ type replies. It makes me pretty mad when people judge and box you depending on what you do and feel that they can tell you what you cannot achieve with your life just because you don’t have everything mapped out the way they believe you should.
As far as it goes, I am a little unsure as to whether I want to go into publishing. It’s part of the private sector and is commercial; all about selling - something I am not terribly interested in. Basically, it’s a business like any other. I worked for the public sector in my last job and am a council employee now. I love the feel of it - work wise and colleague wise (apart from a few anomalies - like the colleague mentioned above). I am actually very grateful that I am working half-and-half with one foot in the public sector (with the library) and the other in the private (at the bookshop). I truly believe in things happening for a reason and right now I feel I have been given an opportunity to look at both jobs and get a feel of what kinds of aspects I like in a job and what is important to me before I commit myself to one or the other.
Well, one wedding down, just another three to go...
Read my previous job logs
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