Girlbooker's Tea and Toast

I've just finished a delicious pot of tea while glancing through the window at the day slowing beginning to light up, and since everyone here is still asleep I have an unexpected window of time free to blog! I am still looking of my 'forever job' but I am working  - back in a bookshop and gearing up to do another Christmas in retail. I honestly thought the day I walked out of that shop with the semi-regular flooded carpet in the back room and the co-worker I dubbed 'The Human Snail' would be the last day I ever said "would you like a bag?" to a complete stranger. But no. Here I am again. It's been a lesson in remembering what I love and hate about work. I sort of knew all of it already but it is now crystal clear. I don't like a job that's too easy and/or boring. I don't like inefficiencies that I am powerless to fix. I do like books. In fact, I fucking love them! And that is a summary in less than 100 words of my current working life. ...

My first discussion for my creativity series took place with Annie Kwok, a beautiful, inspiring, creative music teacher who talks so articulately and thoughtfully that I basically just pretended I was listening to a podcast during our phone call. Here is a picture of Annie that I nicked off her  wonderful blog  because it sums up her personality so beautifully Annie spoke about creativity in a number of different ways. She sees it as uncomfortable, exciting and also essential to her very being. Creativity plays a huge role in her work and in her personal life, but she sees these two creative realms as separate and quite distinct from one another. As a teacher, Annie uses her creativity to aid learning, to keep the students engaged and to make the experience fun. She also sometimes finds creative ways to deal with the stress of teaching. I grew up with teachers who always put more and that made me love my learning so anything that...