Girlbooker's Tea and Toast

I’ve been intrigued by the possibilities of connection between food and mental health for a number of years now. A few years ago, I went through a really tough time, and one of the things that acted as a life buoy for me was cooking. I had never been an especially engaged or talented cook, but through this time I slowly developed familiarity with ingredients and techniques, and came to rely on the soothing, calming process of kitchen creation so much that I now get sad and moody if I go more than a few days without cooking.  I’ve spent some time musing over what exactly it is that works such magic on me, and I’m not 100% sure, but I do know that I’m not alone in seeking solace in food, and in particular, food creation. I have been delighted to discover some books in the last couple of years that have shared these ideas with me. The Happy Kitchen by Rachel Kelly is most explicit about this topic. It’s been written by a writer who has struggled with depression, and a nutritioni...

Against the backdrop of the cafe’s low intensity weekday bustle, I had one of those wonderful, soul affirming catch ups with an old and dear friend. She’s a teacher, and we talked about how technology is changing so many things for students (and therefore teachers) these days. One of the surprising things we discussed was the importance of boredom. In particular, the necessity of boredom for creativity, and also for social as well as cognitive development.  Now that I’ve used a few big words in a row, I’ll try and explain what I mean like a normal person. Creativity only comes when we are backed into a corner and have nothing else to do except try to entertain ourselves. If you have a smart phone handy then you can easily use that to alleviate your boredom, but that means you don’t learn the skills to entertain yourself in any other way. You don’t invent games, ideas or coping mechanisms. The extension of this is that learning how to cope with boredom is great practise for hig...

As a child and teenager, I used to constantly reread. That habit has fallen away for a few reasons, to the point where I feel almost stressed at the thought of it. In fact, I get a little twitchy if someone mentions they are re-reading something, especially if the person in question works in a bookshop or publishing house. One of the reasons I don’t do it anymore is that I feel overwhelmed at the thought of all those books out there that I would probably love but will never, ever get the chance to read, because there are just. so. many.  Working in bookshops for a number of years has no doubt exacerbated this. It’s also meant that I usually can’t bear taking recommendations from others because my own personal list of Books To Read One Day is so long. I don’t have time to waste on something someone ELSE thinks has value! And the third habit that this work has instilled in me is that I won’t keep reading something that I don’t enjoy. Life is too short, and the book list too lon...

The other day, I emerged into the sunshine, energised and inspired from a fabulous talk organised by the lovely crew at Creative Mornings. The speaker, Yassmin Abdel-Magied , is such a delightful, articulate, intelligent and warm individual, that it's difficult to grasp why so many people have spent the last few months attacking her so assiduously ... I don't want to focus on that, but rather on the main content of her talk. It's something I badly needed to hear this week, so I took careful note: "Don't underestimate the power of the stories you tell yourself" Abdel-Magied recounted her time working as a mechanical engineer on offshore oil rigs. Apparently, she genuinely saw herself as exactly like her colleagues, which in this case meant "middle aged white guys with random neck tattoos".  It didn't even occur to her that other people may look at her and think she might look out of place. In this instance, the story Yasmin was telling herse...

Ever get a really annoying song stuck in your head? I'm not going to mention any specifics here, or you'd be cursing me all day, but let's just say a happy, bouncy quartet of children's performers in brightly coloured T shirts and black pants have a LOT to answer for where my mental space is concerned. The term "earworm" has got to be fairly new because it shows up with a red squiggle every time I write it. It comes from a German word which means "musical itch" but I personally really like the idea of a little wiggly worm creeping into your ear and burrowing down. They often come about when we are bored, stressed or really tired, which would explain why my husband used to hum that damn WHAM song about twenty times a day in the hazy days of baby-induced sleep deprivation. And because our brains are wired to remember patterns, the structures of a song - melody, rhythm and lyrics, - can easily get stuck in there and set themselves on to endless repeat...

I once read, somewhere or other, that eating an apple will do a better job of waking you up than a cup of coffee. So why don't we have any apple shops, with exposed brick walls, industrial-hipster lighting, and queues of apple-deficient people snaking out the door waiting for their fix each morning? Well, for whatever reason(s), we are stuck with the cafe. But it just so happens that there are plenty of benefits to grabbing a quick coffee in the morning, completely aside from whether or not the beverage in question can make you feel more awake and alert. Here are my top 5: 1. Getting Some Fresh Air Stepping out of the office for a quick coffee run is a very good thing. Being outside and exposed to direct sunlight can help lift your mood. There are proven links between lack of sun exposure and anxiety and depression. The sun will also give you a (probably much needed) dose of vitamin D, which is imperative for bone strength. There are apparently a whole heap of other amazing ...