4 things one year of working in a bookshop has taught me 📚

Last month marked exactly one year since I began working part time in a lovely bookshop in Marylebone, London. A place that from the start felt like home. A place of learning from interesting people and books about all kinds of things - about the world and its mysteries, about the human condition, as well as about myself. One thing is more clear than ever - certain environments bring out the best in us. The bookshop environment is one such place for me. Even in childhood, one of my favourite places to be in, was a particular library in my hometown. And while in the last decade I didn’t visit many libraries , every time I stepped a foot into various bookshops, I would notice my nervous system instantly becoming more regulated, resulting in my body and mind feeling relaxed and simultaneously more energised. A sea of books occupying many shelves is still my safe place and a source of inspiration. Which is why getting this job felt like something out of a movie, a dream come true.

“You deserve to be in the environments that bring out the softness in you, not the survival in you.”

~Ronne Brown

While there are many lessons and realisations that happened in the course of the year spent in this new place , some insights are especially applicable to the path I am on, namely a healing journey of coming back home to myself. Without further ado, here are some things I discovered and rediscovered since embarking upon this new role of a bookshop assistant.

1. Age is truly just a number.

This was one of the first things I noticed and was enormously inspired by. Amongst the regular visitors of our bookshop, there is a significant amount of people in their sixties, seventies, and even eighties, who are so very youthful in their energy; with sharp minds, lively sense of humour, and fire in their eyes. Eager to live, to learn, to laugh. At the same time their playfulness and high energy levels do not take away from the wisdom one inevitably acquires at this stage of life, in fact they enrich it.

Needless to say, my observations were a stark contrast to what the societal conditioning around the older age looks like. Of course in theory I always knew that a different way was possible, and personally knew the embodied examples of it , however in this case I was faced with a high concentration of what I can only label as inspirational role models, which was a good reminder not to fall for the fear mongering in relation to ageing we are subjected to in our culture.

It has to be added that our bookshop isn’t purely intellectual, we have a lot of spiritually inclined books. Hence why people who are its frequent visitors, aren’t identified with just their body or their mind, but are also aware of their connection to the higher power. Not in a religious way that requires a middle man to assist in one’s communication with the divine , but in a way of cultivating a personal relationship with it. Perhaps this awareness , the intention to explore this part of themselves is something that can infuse the physical body with more resources when biologically they are expected to decrease.

2. Individuality flourishes when we are active in our element.

In this journey called life we oftentimes pick up very limiting beliefs about ourselves due to the various experiences and interactions, especially in the environments and connections where there wasn’t an adequate mirroring established, aka we were not truly seen. While of the most importance in childhood , I believe it can be further reinforced down the line , for example when we do jobs that aren’t well suited for our individual strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I am not a pushy sales person, a quality very much celebrated in the retail environment, and while in certain places in the past this fact made me feel inadequate, now I know that this simply isn’t my personal strength, my gifts lie elsewhere. Modern society tends to reward speed, the faster something can happen, the better. We are all in a rush, and hardly ever appreciate the present moment. The relationship one has with books is by default about slowing down in order to connect to something communicated by the inner world of another. You cannot push this to happen, it is an intimate thing, and people are drawn to certain books for a reason. You can only help to facilitate a process.

At the same time I discovered new sides to me, the ones I previously didn’t have a chance to utilise at work. Turns out I am not nearly as introverted as I thought ; in the environment which shares my values and interests, chatting with people you just met for the first time, isn’t much of a challenge. Perhaps because those conversations tend to be meaningful, as opposed to the small talk, unlike in most social settings.

3. I regained the appreciation of books.

In the current age when technology moves at a rapid speed, digitalising everything in its sight, I believe that physical books are becoming even more sacred than they were before. There is no doubt a massive added value with the arrival of electronic books, Kindle and other written digital resources, making reading materials more accessible to more people for either lesser cost, or even for free. Obviously our beloved Vocal is also a digital platform, and I am utilising it as I write this, which allows me to reach people on the other side of the world. We should certainly be grateful that our generation is able to read anything we want as a result of tapping a fingertip on the screen.

The downside of this however, is that with the amount of content we are able to easily access online, there is a certain degree of devaluation that inevitably follows . I have so many books I am potentially interested in, saved both as samples, as well as the purchased copies in my Kindle app, that I often don’t know where to begin, and feel like a kid in a candy shop. Then there is the phenomena of the algorithm which quickly learns what you favour, and offers you more of the same, which can lead to even more distraction and inability to stick to the text in front of you.

Additionally, with the arrival of recent AI developments, namely ChatGPT , an increased potential for plagiarism is very much an issue, not to mention that a lot more online content is becoming less personal, less human and less real. I feel we must strive to keep the balance of the digital and the physical, and preserve old school books as they connect us to our history and humanity. Yes, there is the whole sustainability issue and the need to save the trees, but compared to let’s say the newspapers that are relevant for a day or a week, certain books if preserved well, can be relevant for years, decades and even centuries.

4. The last but not the least. I received confirmation that some places genuinely care about mental health of their staff , instead of just saying so on paper.

We live in times when there is an increasing awareness and the understanding of the importance of mental health. Which is a good thing. However, for many people and places, it is simply a popular trend to follow; virtue signalling on the outside, without a necessary inner transformation. A quck online search provides plenty of evidence of the above mentioned hypocrisy , as apparently it is still very much a norm for people to experience bullying culture at work. What I personally found the most surprising, is that according to the multiple reviews left by the ex employees, bullying culture is a thing even in the mental health charity sector. Sadly, whenever there is a hierarchy established , there is also a good chance of one of the least attractive expressions of human nature, namely a “power trip” to emerge.

However, that was not the case this time, and when my mental health dipped as a result of severe stress in other areas of my life, to my relief I was met with understanding and empathy, rather than prejudice and impatience, which is how too many people still treat the invisible human struggles, as opposed to the visible physical health injuries.

Systemic change is slower to occur than the individual, precisely because the system is comprised of individuals, and so relies on a certain amount of them changing first. Which is why it is extremely refreshing to encounter places where the structural hierarchy, which is very much necessary in order for a workplace system to function, does not result in the unhealthy dynamics of the dominance, lack of respectful communication etc. Benevolent leadership is supposed to be protective and inclusive, and it is my belief that as a society we are gradually transitioning into the healthier ways of relating, both personally and professionally. Working with people who embody those values naturally, gives me hope for humanity.

We all need places where our soul feels nourished, and I am very grateful to have one which I can also call my job.