In my 'Bookish Haul' blog post, I mentioned that I had been to the School of Life shop in London. The School of Life is a brand/internet space/learning environment/shop/book series that I have been interested in for a while now. I started to watch their YouTube videos about a year ago, and these seek to teach us all the stuff that we don't learn in school; whether it be about relationships, states of mind, career choices or ideas that we can learn from philosophy and literature - there is such a variety of topics covered! The School of Life is really something everyone can relate to, and it is a wonderful and supportive place to go if you have a particular problem which you think you are tackling alone. The School of Life shows that these problems are normal, that there are many others out there also dealing with the same thing, and it also gives advice on how to overcome such problems.
I became aware, after visiting the London shop, that lectures and workshops were also being held by the School of Life team. These range in many different styles; they could be focusing on one philosopher or important figure, for example a lecture on Satre, or they could also be addressing an important life question, like 'How to find the right partner'. I always thought that if I lived in London I would be so interested to go to one of these events.
Recently a new School of Life shop in Berlin opened up, and so I discovered that these workshops were more available to me, a bit closer to where I live! Most of them are in German, but there are also a few in English. Straight away I got tickets to one called, 'How to find a job you love'. I thought I would account my experience here, so that if you were someone who was thinking about going to something like this, reading my post might hopefully encourage you to do so!
Firstly, I loved the social aspect of the workshop. There were about 20 people there, all from completely different walks of life, all different ages, and with different stories to tell. It was made clear right away that this was a very supportive atmosphere; although we didn't know each other, we connected over the fact that we were all at this workshop to address this question about our work lives. Lively conversation flowed as we all shared our backgrounds, thoughts and ideas. By the end of the workshop, which was about three hours long, I had made some friends and we exchanged contact info to keep in touch!
The workshop was led by a really friendly and engaging member of the School of Life, and he got us doing lots of exercises with each other. The first was to tell each other why we had come to this particular event. It was really interesting to hear what other people said; many felt trapped in their jobs, wanted to change paths, or (like me) were coming to the end of their studies and were casting around for what to do next. Another exercise we did in the middle of the workshop was to create our own personal job ads, which listed our personal qualities and talents. Then, in groups of three, we explained our job add to the others, to which they had to make a suggestion for us about what we should do. I found this to be incredible interesting as these two other people working with me had no idea who I was or what my background was. The only information they had was what my qualities are as a person and what my skill set is. I got some great ideas! One person said that I should create musical events in cool spaces, perform in them, and then blog about them. The other said that I should travel with animals and then blog about it! Definitely have never thought of that before!
The workshop was a fantastic way to think about some really important questions. It led me to a lot of self-discovery too. For example, while I always thought my own particular battle, when it comes to my work, has been between money and my passions, I found that actually respect plays a HUGE role in what we do. It is so difficult to keep doing your job if you feel that you have no respect from others, especially when you know you deserve it. I also learnt that we don't have to be just one thing either. Somehow people always label themselves as one thing - 'I am a teacher, I am a musician, I am a writer'. Actually we can be lots of things! We all have lots of interests and things we love doing, and it is so possible to do them all. Even if you have one job as your main job, you might also have lots of side projects.
I think that there were some people at the workshop that were looking for some concrete answers, to have some kind of light bulb epiphany moment. Would I say it was life-changing? No, I wouldn't, but 'How to find the right job' is something that probably takes a lot of time and thought, and can't just be answered in a couple of hours. I don't think anything huge has changed in my life since attending the workshop, BUT a seed has been planted in my head for future ideas and projects, and I feel better off now than I did before. I think too that this is what the School of Life is aiming for - they don't mean to quickly change lives or the world, but instead to build up new ideas over time which can lead to brighter futures.
This was one particular example of the kinds of things that go on at the School of Life, and if you ever get the chance to attend one of their events, I would strongly recommend you to do so. Like I said, there really is something for everyone, and to talk about important questions with other people who are also facing the same challenges that you are feels so great and supportive. Altogether it really is a great way to spend an afternoon.Labels: Culture, Life, Thoughts