A Glimpse of Summer

Posted June 28, 2018 by ShanTil Yell

I had almost forgotten about the feeling of that sweet exhale summer break brings until now. I don’t know if what I’m doing 100% qualifies as a “break” since I am working a lot and still managing to keep my schedule quite full, but it is nice to be doing all of those things without having to worry about homework and readings for a few months!

In terms of work, I’m still filling in as a senior substitute at the Somerville Public Library. I love it for…well, many reasons. 1) SPL is an awesome place and you should come visit us, okay? Okay. 2) We’ve got three branches, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work in various roles at each of them. Plus, I have amazing co-workers who have been so helpful and supportive. A little circulation here, some reference desk there, and my personal favorite–the children’s room. I got to do an impromptu preschool story time a couple of weeks ago and it was only a little scary, but mostly a lot of fun and way cute! The parents and caregivers there were the real champs since they helped me out with all of the songs I didn’t know. It was great. 3) Did I mention SPL is awesome?

I’ve also been picking up some catering gigs in between my shifts at the library, which has taken me to a lot of interesting places and introduced me to some pretty cool people. I never fully know what to expect from any given event, so it keeps me on my toes while helping me pay the bills.

And behind the scenes of work and sleep and getting together with friends, I’ve been taking time out of each day to foster my creativity. I committed to doing this 12-week course from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I’m coming to the end of week 2 now, and it’s been challenging and frustrating, but yes, already rewarding. Fingers crossed that I can stick with it to the finale. Hope all of you are having lovely summers so far!