What did I learn through my internship?

At my leaving breakfast with some of the wonderful people I worked with (apologies for the iPhone picture)

When I started my internship, 3 months ago, it was the first time I had worked in a 'proper' job that relates to my degree and the first time I had worked 9-5 in an office. I was doing marketing for City Gateway, a charity that focuses on bridging the gap between the affluent and deprived which is so common in much of London.  Before I started I had a few worries and whilst it's all still fresh in my mind I thought I would reflect on them. So here goes, the things I learnt in my internship:

Having had pretty bad attendance at school, college and then uni the concept of complete routine scared me. I'm so used to working on my own and having the freedom which that brings, like making the most of sunny days. Thankfully, the world of 9-5 isn't as terrible as I had previously thought, it brings about a different sense of fulfilment daily. It's also really nice working in a team where people can bounce ideas and express different point of view.

I already knew this, but there is a big gap of proactivity and organisation missing in my skill set, this leads to procrastination and things taking longer and being more frustrating than they should. I certainly learnt that if you want something to be a lot less stressful then plan it all thoroughly. I vow to take this lesson wherever I go.

It was certainly a boost in confidence, always working on your own means you start forgetting what your skills are. Working with a varied group of people was great and it meant I could reasses where my giftings are. 

Sometimes it's really great to push your comfort zones because you find out it wasn't as scary as you first thought aka excel (which I used to avoid like the plague) didn't kill me.

I've learnt lots about how people feel valued and how is best to communicate that value in order to have a cohesive and happy team. An add-on to this is that I've realised what a joyous privilege it is working with Matt as a team doing photography, so THANK YOU to all your gorgeous brides and grooms who make this possible.

And finally, as someone who has never really thought about a 'professional career' I now see what a blessing it is to live in London, a blessing I never would have guessed. There are so many opportunities and jobs and open doors. Although I'd love to live on a cliff next to a forest by a mountain with birds that sing, it would never have given me the opportunities London does. I had a really interesting, educating and fun time at City Gateway and it's really made me think about what I may be capable of ;)

I have my dissertation due in a couple of weeks and start a new job at a bridal shop any day now, hopefully I can get back to blogging soon because I have so many crafty things I want to share!

Has 9-5 always felt normal to you?

Live Music

Listener at Underworld, Camden.

Recently Matt and I managed to get tickets to see Damien Rice at The Palladium- we both love and admire his music so it will be a real privilege to see him live. Live music has been a big part of our lives. The book Matt proposed with had tickets to see live music to celebrate our engagement, it was at a random Camden gig we found the perfect band to play our wedding, Josh Flowers and The Wild, and now it's how we enjoy date nights. It's also coming up to a year since we were in NY so I thought this would be a nice post to recap such joyous times.

All the good bloggers say you should have a few list post’s here and there, so here is my first. 

My first gig: OkGo and Motion City Soundtrack at the Pyramids, Southsea. I was 14 and my parents came with me. Cringe/good parenting. 

I cried: This was the first time I saw Ben Howard, at Hoxton Bar & Grill in Dec, 2010. I just remember standing there transfixed.

The one where I met a (now) famous person: This is in no way my story, it's Matt's, for another time. I met Ed Sheeran twice, first at the Bedford in 2010 and then at a Foy Vance gig on Brick Lane. 

Most disappointing: There is a band called Listener that we really love and they finally came to the UK. Matt surprised me with tickets as they were playing on my birthday. It was the end of their tour and they were clearly tired and not so excited to be there, the audience heckled them and their sound was bad. It was bad and sad. Thankfully they redeemed themselves and a more recent London  show.

Biggest: I saw Liberty X and Blue and Blazing Squad at Wembly stadium as part of a girl guide event (ha,yeah)- but I was really young. Maybe this should be the real answer to question 1.

Most beautiful venue: I think there are lots that I've never been to, we'd particularly love to go to Traena in Norway. The other week our church (Christchurch Spitalfields) knocked through their massive crypt to make one big space. It's part way through completion and they decided to host a little show by Wilderthorn, it was very dusty, had great acoustics and was lit by hundreds of candles.

Warm fuzzy feelings: Ed Harcourt played at a lovely Islington venue around Christmas 2 years ago. It was all seated with hardwood floors, Christmas wreaths, grand pianos and mulled wine. We loved it fondly, he's playing at East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf soon and I'm sure it will be beautiful (you should go, yes you). 

All time favourite: There is no question about this, for both Matt and I. Last year in a moment of spontinaity we booked flights to New York. We then found out one of our favourite musicians, David Ramirez, was playing a couple of hours after our flight was supposed  to return to London, we were gutted. Hours before we were supposed to leave for NY our flight got cancelled, I actually cried. However, through many slightly miraculous phone calls to insurance we managed to extend our stay to make up for the lost day (and get upgraded to business class). This meant we could see David Ramirez. But when we went to buy tickets it was sold out, we couldn't believe it. Matt has a family friend who he'd not spoken to in years but we knew he had done some photography for David Ramirez so we messaged him to see if there was any chance of getting hold of David and seeing if we could get tickets. It somehow pulled together and we ended up on the Merch table in a beautiful venue called the City Winery in NY watching David Ramirez play (and because we were working our bar tab was wiped!). We then partied the night away with the band before heading our separate ways at 5am, just in time to pack up and get our flight back. This experience really cemented our love of both New York and David Ramirez. It has reminded us that we have a very loving and generous God!

So there you go :) a random blog post that made me happy to write amongst the busyness and seeming lack of adventure these past few weeks.

What's the best gig you've ever been to?

xx