Jennysha's job log: 19
By Jennysha Patel
- October 2009.
The story so far… Jennysha graduated three years ago, and is looking for ways into publishing. Meanwhile she combines work in a bookshop and a library.
How to be happy
It feels like such a long time since my last blog, but that’s a good thing. It means I have lots to say and I won’t be scrambling around for stories to tell and worried about making the word count. Most likely, my worry will be overdoing it. So, here goes.
I am definitely not feeling as miserable as I was in my last blog - that may be due to the overdose (in my case) of five a day I had today. Put it this way, I had already consumed 4 of my 5 a day by 10 o’clock this morning - it’s all part of my healthy eating regime. Or should that be trying-to-include-any-fruit-and-veg-in-my-diet-as-opposed-to-none-whatsoever! So, onwards and upwards. It seems a couple of days ago I was feeling all overcome with illness, sporting a particularly sore throat and sexy husky voice (it’s the only good thing about being ill!) with plenty of phlegm to match (not so sexy). Now, though, I couldn’t be feeling better.
In the past few days, I’ve been talking to friends and colleagues and thinking a fair bit about work and careers and all things related. It seems a former colleague at the bookshop, who was made redundant, is actually doing pretty well, with two jobs tiding him over quite nicely. I had guessed he might still be on the hunt for work, but he is actually really enjoying his roles of teaching children how to swim and being an assistant manager at a music store. He blogs too and writes sports-related articles. For him, then, I feel that the redundancy was a blessing in disguise. He often used to feel quite down about working at the bookshop and the general negative aura of the place and the effect it had on him, and so it appears the situation actually worked well for him and put an end to something he was looking to get out of anyway.
This links in nicely with a conversation I was having with one of our new Christmas temps, who seems to have done a real mixed bag of things since school, including an art and design course, a criminology degree and previously working for a rival bookshop. We were both agreeing about quitting a job when you’re miserable. It’s certainly what I did in my last role - I felt I was losing my charm with the service users, colleagues and within myself. Of course, now it’s a little more difficult to simply say it would be best for anyone to just up and leave their current job to get another one, what with the market being permanently vacant. However, it still doesn’t lessen my frustration when I know and work with people who so obviously don’t care about the job that they do and let the whole team down by purposefully underperforming and not giving a damn.
Enough negative talk, let me end on some good notes. One of the repercussions of my awful 2008 and the bad attitude I adopted, was a damaged relationship with my younger sister. The positive part here is that I am trying to get things back on the mend with us. I feel I am making progress and might be on track. As my sister has just turned 21 and is starting a new year, a new chapter of her life, I am trying to rewrite myself back into her life. We were more than sisters, we were best friends, and so being a part of her life feels like a necessity for me and I am more than ecstatic that we may be getting to a better place.
Another exciting occurrence is that I read my poetry in front of an audience of poets alike; some amateur and others professional. It was scary at first and so surreal but so amazing. I didn’t get any feedback but some appreciated bouts of laughter, not at me but appropriately at the subjects of my poems! My friend was pleasantly surprised at how I managed to slow down my pace when reciting as when we speak normally it’s in such a fast, non-stop, not-pausing-for-air kind of way. It was a great night out and I certainly hope to read again. The prospect of being on the ‘published’ side of publishing is beginning to appeal more and more than its counterpart. I am beginning to wonder if I can fit in with the cut-throat, dog-eat-dog world of business. I’ve never fancied the idea of selling things to people. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind if it was my books they were buying…
Read my previous job logs
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