Book shop moods

To put a bow on a challenging week I go to London and carry out a brilliant four hours with Satvir Sitoha, working through her creativity in a PIT STOP coaching session. Satvir is a designer who likes to illustrate in her own time and wanted to re-centre her creativity. We split the session in two and during the lunch break, I suggest we eat, then go to Waterstones near Tottenham Court Road station. I want to do this to observe the books she is drawn to and discuss her feelings.

There are many clues about our personality and creativity in the culture that speaks to us.

After we part ways, I have time to spare in Waterloo station, so as ever, find myself peering through the Foyles bookshop window.

After a while, my eyes dancing over the titles on display, I grow aware of my mood as it flips and flops according to the tone of the subjects. There’s something about the Nazi mindset – topical following Elon Musk’s troubling behaviour this week – and another book about factfulness, how the world looks better when you bypass the monstrous quantity of emotionally triggering headlines and doomsaying. This pattern repeats as I go inside and browse the store, and it’s a reminder to nourish, not bombard our brains.

While researching a book jacket illustration commission several years ago, I had to consume imagery of the Los Angeles homeless problem. It pulled me into a funk so desperate, I felt utter futility in anything I tried to do. And in the next click, an image leading to an article in Positive News about a new business-backed build of tiny bright coloured houses in rows to help the homeless community while they awaited help. Not a silver bullet, but a reminder that work always goes on to address our collective problems, and a reason to feel a modicum of hope and optimism in the battles at hand.

Crucial if we wish to create from the right place, with meaning.