This year, I did it my way

Another year is drawing to a close. I just read through my Word-diary and made a little thinking as to sum up this year. My plan exactly a year ago was to stay in one place for a year and study hard: a plan that came true. Now my thoughts are circling around the future and, of course, traveling. I´m leaving again for sure, but don´t know where yet. I feel like I´ve seen all Vaasa has to give to me and it´s time to move on. The world is bustling all around.

 

This year I´ve had a lot of time to think what I want. My mind is constantly mulling over two opposites: peaceful and easy life against exciting adventures in the world. I´m seeing more and more people who don´t recognize the existence of the latter. It´s overwhelming how many people are depending on material or ego, how nobody questions anything nor listen to him/herself. And I never cease to wonder how much those people who don´t travel miss out. How people just worry about money, looks, work or health. How we look for answers from outside while all the answers are within ourselves. Can we not see good in what we have? Can we not be content with just our existence without analyzing and calculating all the time and discovering ourselves unhappy over and over again?

And moreover, I´m amazed how people want to "get there". For many people I suppose that means permanent job and permanent spouse. They are surely great things to have, but why are there still so many unhappy people, even married? Nothing is permanent. Even a relationship is an "external factor" that doesn´t solve anything as it is. Why are we so scared to be alone with ourselves? Why do we need a profession or a spouse to define ourselves? Meet the person inside you, that you are. What if you were alone and homeless? Would you be less worthy as a person or would you have smaller ability to see beauty around or be happy about little things? Would you have less curiosity and will to learn and develop yourself? Would you love yourself less?

Next year I want to get closer to the person inside of me. That person may be angry or even ridiculous. She is hopefully less egocentric and more tolerable to all kinds of people. Less jealous and judging. That person would be more like an observer of the world and not always running after achievements. She would have the right to change her opinion. She would be brave.

This year I´ve noticed better than ever how good nutrition is a key to a good life. Quality thinking has changed my life for good. Sometimes I feel really alone with my opinions but I can only keep setting example. I know there are more and more people who are aware of holistic health and real well-being.

Many foods I ate ten years ago with good appetite would disgust me these days. And how much better I feel now! Many years I used pain killers on weekly basis because I though it was normal to have headaches. I was tired in the afternoons and depressed by dark winters. Now I enjoy whatever the year brings. Quality in nutrition made such a big change in my life that I improved the quality in other fields, too. I feel like a whole person, both physically and mentally. I feel I can do anything.

Have the best new year ever !!

Crafts and winter spirits

Winter came with a bang! Alteration in the temperature within last week was something like 20 degrees. This week Vaasa got cold greetings from Siberia and I had to go to uni in -15. In spite of that, I get by well wearing my sheep skin overcoat. It´s a lifesaver! Even in this weather I love strolling by the sea...

Cinnamon and icing sugar?

Sea freezing in

Delayed winter fur

Last week I received the most lovely parcel. A handmade notebook from Russia! Behind this is Elena whom I met a couple of summers ago in Greece. We had the best time under the sun of Kefalonia! Elena makes the most beautiful notebooks ever, check out her fb-page: http://www.facebook.com/lisalena.books
Whats makes this book ever more special is that the stone holding the ribbon is from where else than Kefalonia...

 Moving on. I love making things too, not as advanced though as Elena... I´ve been making a lot of Christmas cards, decorations and random paper crafts. I want to show my favourite Christmas decorations: the Swedish paperheart and the Finnish himmeli. Explanation for my Germanic friends:

Himmeli ist eine aufwendige Bastelei aus Stroh, die in Finnland und Schweden eine beliebte Weihnachtsdekoration darstellt.

Julhjärta

At Eija Koski´s himmeli exhibition

 And finally, a greeting for all the Finns or like-minded...

Journey

Lingering and aimless roaming is underrated.

Today´s world is all about competition, success and winning. One has to be useful, preferably make a lot of money. You have to know yourself and your wants and needs. What will you do when you grow up, people ask playfully while being serious.

Too many plans kill creativity and leave no room for surprises. When you don´t make plans, anything can happen. It´s up to you whether this phrase is negative or positive.

Isn´t it more exciting when you don´t know exactly what your destination is?

Killing time for longevity

I don´t understand the concept of hobbies. Why do we have to have hobbies? Do we have to fill our free time with activities that pursue self-improvement? Isn´t free time supposed to be what it´s called: free time. Hobby sounds like something you have to do regularly, like defrosting the freezer. 

I don´t think I have to justify the fact that relaxing and not doing anything is good for you. We live in such a competitive and busy world that occasional sitting down and watching the grass grow is more than welcome. I was so happy when a friend returning from holiday answered my question "what did you do" with a mere "nothing". That´s right and worthy!

I don´t get it why we always have to do something useful or developing. Take sports for example. I think it has stolen a way too big limelight in people´s lifestyle. A simple-minded might think that exercise equals health. No way is it so easy. I´ve met too many people whose health has been ruined because of doing too much sports over too many years. Humans are not meant to do heavy sports regularly. Why is there a saying "an athlete doesn´t see a healthy day"? I hereby condemn competitive sports.

Is cooking my hobby if I enjoy it but it also keeps me alive?

Actually I´m more for just being active in a way that our ancestors were. I assume the early humans moved around a lot gathering food, lifting and carrying things, hunting a little bit (not chasing animals though) and maybe building something. I don´t think anyone was obliged to run very long distances.

I´m also inspired by the longevity of people in Okinawa, a Japanese island where lives the most long-living people in the world. People there live in a very simple and traditional way, fishing and small-scale farming. They don´t go to the gym. They get their exercise from daily life, or maybe some folk dance...

Another secret to Okinawan longevity is said to be socializing. I´ve sometimes heard Finnish people judging the custom in southern cultures of sitting around and "slacking". Yes, you mostly see youngsters and immigrants hanging out in my town, while the majority of the population is rushing about and running errands. It´s so sad all this "hanging around" is seen as a negative thing. I would rather see more of it - socializing with no specific aim. It promotes good health and is the most natural, and the oldest, way of passing time.

The end.

Can we chill out more?

Run like you mean it

My philosophy is to do everything and try everything. There´s nothing that can stop me and when I look back I see that I have indeed done quite a lot of stuff. My trip to Greece was even a subject of an article in a paper because the editor thought “I do such interesting things”. Yes, and why wouldn´t everyone else!

Work is often an obstacle for people not doing things they really want. Work is just a means to make money so you could have a roof over your head, food and then: do things you like. It´s dead simple. No one has to work all the time for all their life. Really. Unfortunately not everyone thinks I´m supposed to have life outside work. I´d rather be a little lazy and selfish than try to collect cool work certificates. Because when you work, you sell your time and freedom for a certain amount of money. On one hand there´s money and on the other there´s time. Which one is more important?

Time is my friend, that I know for sure, and it´s precious. I feel sorry for people who don´t know how to occupy themselves on their free-time. It´s extremely important to have things you can be passionate and excited about.

One of my top joys in life is physical activity. It´s pretty awesome being able to run fast, climb, swim and so on and so forth. I don´t know why anyone wouldn´t take advantage of all that. That adrenaline kick I get from sports is so invigorating. Best way to feel alive again after a long day at uni. And I´m not talking about aimless jogging on a treadmill while watching Friends - I´m more for going out and doing real things like running in a forest, climbing and working out with my hands or feet on the ground.

Adrenaline is sweet. I wonder why they don´t sell it in cans.

It´s pretty useful to do things that stir you or frighten you. It´s another thing I learned from the inspirational Viidakkomies. Everyone knows how good it feels after a presentation in front of a class or stuff like that. I´m unable to explain it further but it´s just good to do daring stuff. What is daring is also travelling, leaving your comfort zone literally. I´ve deliberately made myself enough time and money to go Egypt in about five days so more daring is to come... I want to try diving so bad even though I find it scary. I will do it though and post an entry about it. So stay tuned and live courageously. 

Peace !

The Unbearable Lightness of Summer

I´m not a big fan of summer. That´s what I always say but as soon as I get my hands on treats like fresh cherries or rhubarb I change my mind... I love making pies out of fresh berries or rhubarb. The world is so much better place after making a pie.

Why wouldn´t I like summer? Because it´s so short and everyone´s so aware of it all the time. People here in the North take summer very seriously. As soon as the sun comes out and the temperature goes up to +15 Finns put on their shorts and tees. Whereas I´m shivering in my scarf. In summer you must eat as much ice cream as you can, stay at a cottage somewhere by a lake, swim in the lake, grill sausages and mushrooms wrapped in bacon, lie on the lawn with a magazine, get a tan, wear sunglasses everywhere, attend music festivals and a half marathon... There´s so much you got to do in 2-3 months. So many expectations. My reaction is to make rhubarb pies and wander in the forests.

Peacock butterfly

Even thought summer is short you can store it in so many ways for the winter. I do it by photographing and collecting whatever wild food I can freeze of dry for later use.

Another thing I always say is that Finland is the bect place where to spend summer. In central Europe it´s too hot and crowded, in Asia it´s probably monsoon or something. In Finland there are enough forests to roam for everyone and it´s never too hot! (Pun attended.) I hereby advice everyone to enjoy the Finnish nature. Probably the most magical place I know is any forest near water in a light summer night.

Officers club in Hamina

More amazing things you can take advantage of in summer: wearing anklets and flowing dresses, painting outdoors, walking barefoot, picking flowers, keeping windows open, having pie (!) for lunch on a terrace or balcony, putting flowers in a vase, birds singing, smell of hot asphalt, hot asphalt workers, flowers, birds, flowers and birds, water, sea shores and sand under your feet, sailing, gardening, vegetable market and the big big blue sky... Did I mention birds?

With love and strawberry pies.

Super weekend

Happy Monday!

I´ve spent an excellent out-of-ordinary weekend in "the Manchester of Finland", Tampere. Themes turned out to be downshifting and good food... all the way till this Monday. First stop was a CS sauna evening in the oldest sauna in the country. Benefits of going to sauna are well-known but this time my main interest was to see a sauna that is more than 100 years old. Also, the consept of public sauna is excellent!

Ladies to the left, gentlemen to the right.

Rajaportin sauna is really nostalgic, picturesque and well-preserved. Inside the sauna there was a weird earthy smell but the proportion of heat and humidity was just perfect! You could also go sit outside, drink and sit by the fire.

Glass bottles in the sauna prohibited.

The next most important thing to do in Tampere was to visit Jaakko Halmetoja´s Smoothie Studio. Unfortunately it was closed; it looked like being under renovation. Jaakko is one of the best-known superfood experts in this country. I´m dying to meet him! I also had discussion on the food topic with my host in Tampere. Many people seem to live under the false impression that "superfoodists" eat superfoods only. They´re merely a supplement and the meaning is not to take the pleasure of eating away. Eating superfoods is often about replacing stuff with better quality. Again, chocolate is a perfect exemple...

Chocolate can consist e.g. these ingredients. On the board there´s cacao mass, maca powder, hemp seeds and peanuts.

As for downshifting, I visited my aunt who lives simple life in the outskirts of Tampere. I´ve forgotten how much you can enjoy just listening to the radio and filling in cross-words. There´s a very special atmosphere in that cottage, like going back in time! There can be the most fascinating programmes on the radio: like the one where people call and tell their memories, stories from their childhood and such things. I don´t know many things more interesting than real people telling true stories.

Back to superfoods... Today I had the joy of meeting representative Heikki Harju from Cocovi superfood company. He had a demonstration at Ekosoppi on how to prepare raw chocolate. Heikki seemed to have a vast knowledge on the subject and we got to taste some heavenly cacao goodies. What an energy boost for the start of the week! We tasted coconut oil-cacao mousse, rice milk based cacao shots, mint chocolate with goji berries and another sort with mulberries and vanilla. Mind-blowing! I also got answers to my superfood questions and even more inspiration to keep experimenting. I felt rather hyper afterwards. Unfortunately my oral English class was cancelled!

That´s all folks. Last thing I want to share is a little miracle. Yesterday I tasted ordinary milk chocolate after months of eating mostly raw stuff. So came a day when Fazer´s milk chocolate tasted disgusting!

Treat yourselves!
xxx

Have a REAL New Year !

I´m simply
unable to
not
blog !!!

My courses just started today, on this awfully beautiful winter´s day. Yes, proper winter has finally arrived. Well, it might not be proper January for some as it´s merely -7 degrees for the time being.

So my courses started and I´m excited about hundred other things aswell ! (Aswell, indeed, because atleast today´s "Oral English for humanity students" was really fun.) Another major thing to smile about is that ecological and "back-to-the-roots"-kind of thinking is spreading more and more and more. I can tell by the increased number of organic products in my local supermarket. And there are organic products in nearly every department! It´s really awesome to be able to compare different organic products instead of just grabbing the only sort. In that way organic living doesn´t have to be expensive. Today I bought 500ml of organic extra virgin olive oil for about 6€ which is quite decent price for any olive oil.

 

This trend of turning to things genuine and even old-fashioned can be noticed in the field of music, too. Atleast I really love this kind of uncomplicated honest music like what Arttu Wiskari (above) does. He says in an interview that he rather uses real stories in his songs than invented stuff. And that´s exactly why his songs are so real and touching. And national romantic in a good way! :)

Another amazing musician is Lassi Valtonen who just recently released his debut album. Known from the Finnish Idol, he became hugely popular because of his great voice and overall modesty. Even now after becoming a recorded artist, he still looks like the same guy-next-door. 

Yes, so good music and good olive oil... one doesn´t need much more. Another happy thing is that I now live in a lovely old house from the 30´s and one of my walls is made of old logs. It´s beautiful, reminds me of old man´s skin. 

There´s still room for improvements in my Super Diet. I have a short shopping list for iHerb or such even though I´m still eating only the good stuff: loads of veg and fruit, fatty cheese, organic milk and yoghurt, domestic fish, berries, eggs, 100% rye bread... And my very own raw chocolates. These days I´m not even tempted to buy crisps or milk chocolate. It´s liberating. That´s why I feel unable to stop sharing this message of good food and good times. I´m always inspired by the "Jungle Man": www.viidakkomies.com

One of the most popular blogs in Sweden is also about real living and basic values: www.underbaraclara.com 

It´s really cute, sometimes a bit materialistic, but all about "homing" alltogether.

I wanted to tell you like dozen of other interesting things but I´ll save it for later. For now, I leave you with a wish of a better and more genuine New Year !

xxx