Itthon

 

Someone likes the colour red…

 

This is where I’ll be spending most of my free time!

Our garden, as seen from the balcony…

Part of the living room…

Mirror, mirror on the wall…

Vikings and Tea

Saturday night already. The nights are definitely getting longer – it’s 10.30 pm and if I turn my head slightly to the right, I can see the last remaining traces of the sunset. I’ve been living with some strange kind of feelings lately – I feel the need to write more, to read more, to do more yoga, to push my own limits, and to somehow find that inner guiding light. I hear all these fabulous stories about life and somewhere inside me I feel like I’m missing out – it’s a stupid feeling that gets in the way for many great actions and experiences in life. Many people choose to stick to the easier alternatives in life– for whatever reason. We are responsible for our decisions: some people might live perfectly well knowing that life could have been different, better. I cannot. So I’m fumbling around in the darkness, looking for a guiding light, a helping hand or at least an ounce of courage.  I’m afraid of jumping because of doubt – I doubt my own skills, talents, even knowledge. It’s a completely irrational feeling, but yet, a very real one. Unfortunately, one of the few things I haven’t learned is how to laugh at that irrational feeling and then throw it in the bin.

Well. If I would have lived a few centuries back, my poor little head would most definitely have been saved from these kinds of thoughts.

Nihil.

I’m trying to write an essay about societal risk management, but my eyes are staring blankly at the laptop and my head feels sort of empty. So I thought I’d share some photos (well, the grand total of two) from the flat with you…

..oh, it takes a fool to remain sane...

Today’s fantastic four.

 

Fabulous dish: oven-baked salmon with lemon, melon, feta cheese and basil.

Frightening thought: I’m old (one colleague said, with bright eyes, “oh, in ’86 I hadn’t even been thought of”) but graceful (at least pretending to be) and HEY… I still look like 23. Self-denial is the word of the day.

Fun idea: sociology

Fearless conclusion: in 19 minutes I can go home.

 

 

 

 

Why Norway Matters

A person I know was showing some surprise at the attention the attacks in Norway have received here in Finland. For us, these attacks were something unimaginable, and the degree of shock was high. Why? One explanation is the Nordic closeness – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland share a long, common history. The political cooperation has been tight for decades; all the languages (except Finnish and Sami) are so closely related that we understand each other (more or less). Furthermore, our societies are based on similar values. One of these values is trust towards society, and other people around us. What happened in Norway destroyed this trust, at least partly. Another reason for the shock is the fact that the killer attacked his “own”, there is no “other” that can be blamed – whatever factors that caused this person to act the way he did can only be found in his own head and in the society where he lived. In a society where the left-right divide isn’t as strong as it used to be, where society seems to be suffering from some kind of political apathy -  it seems incomprehensible a reason to murder people – children, whose only crime was that they believed in an opposing political ideology.

Norway also matters because the discussions following the tragedy have shown that, although there is a lot of love out there, there is a lot of hatred. The worst part is that a lot of the people spitting out racist and extreme opinions don’t consider those opinions as such.

Argh.

I’m disgusted. On Saturday, in the nightclub queue, an acquaintance was joking about how much he disliked social democrats (and how happy he was that there were fewer of them now), and now I found my way to some internet forum where people were JUSTIFYING the tragedy in Norway. Apparently it’s OK to kill people because one doesn’t like immigrants. Where does all this hatred come from?

...in a world that's meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am...

It’s Monday again with all that it means – grey skies and work. The weekend was quite OK, I haven’t slept so much in a long time. Due to no internet I haven’t been able to update the blog about all those important things that have been going on. Although – to be quite honest – life with less internet is both enjoyable and well-needed.

 

Norway. What happened in Norway was a terrible tragedy, a horrible political (?) and ideological statement directed at people who had no guilt. A lot has been said and written about this tragedy, and I doubt I can contribute in any way. Nonetheless – my thoughts go out to the friends and families. A tragedy like this shakes the whole society: and even though a whole society cannot be held responsible for the crazy actions of one individual, it’s up to all its members (not only in Norway, by the way) to actively fight against hatred. The world isn’t always a pretty place, but everyone can contribute to making a little bit better.

 

This weekend I also read a book about a woman who started studying Italian. And of course it inspired me – think about it, learning a language for the sheer fun of it, to develop as a person and to find some kind of meaning in life. Then it hit me – that’s what I’m doing already. All the time. Maybe one more language wouldn’t give my life much more meaning, perhaps the right thing to do would be something that’s actually challenging and different. (while pondering upon this thought I was jumping with excitement after finding a book in Serbo-Croatian at the library). Cooking could be nice alternative, or mountain climbing. Or knitting – that was such a pain in school, so I’m sure it’d be a challenging enterprise.

 

By the way – can you imagine any better way of spending a Sunday afternoon than lying in bed with your feet on the pillow, sipping on tea and reading about something interesting?

 

...I wish I was a punkrocker with flowers in my hair...

Last night before falling asleep I though about something clever to write about in the blog. Now I can’t remember what it was. Maybe it had something to do with allowing more than two people to marry each other (apparently some green youth groups have been advocating the idea). Or maybe Obama was somehow involved. He was on telly yesterday.

 

No. That’s probably not it. Maybe I wanted to write about love and passions. Or goals and dreams and stuff like that. Things that make the butterflies in your stomach tingle with excitement.

 

At the time the thought was beautiful (or at least interesting).  And deep. Then I fell asleep and apparently forgot all about it.

 

Now giddiness has taken me to new heights and I feel like dancing. Or singing. Or hugging someone. (what’s up with this sudden need for hugging?)

 

 

 

Never care for what they say, never care for the games they play...

A tired hello to everyone… right now I’m trying to relax (or maybe wake up) to some coffee and James Blunt (hah, that’s not really the kind of music to listen to if one wants an energy boost). Today is going to be such a busy day, and I just feel like lying down in the sofa downstairs (what a good job I have – there’s a room for resting AND a sauna – and a fridge full of alcohol) and sleep until tomorrow. This morning I woke up at 5 am to wake up my brother, I was half asleep and poking him and pulling his legs to get him up). Anyhows, tonight I’m going to sleep in the new flat for the first time, it’s lovely (although quite empty still) – photos will follow at some point.

 

Iloista keskiviikkoa kaikille! ( Happy Wednesday to all!)

La petite mademoiselle dit “bonsoir”