We often understand the depth of a gift long after the moment when we could have thanked the giver. I’ve heard it said that the soul of a country lives in its music. Yesterday, as I looked through old photographs, lost in thought, while Peter played Finnish folk songs at the piano, I felt how…
Category: Finland
Wrapped in Wonder
Perhaps one of the loveliest things about genuine happiness is that it makes us want others to experience it too. A few weeks ago, Peter and I stepped out of the crisp Southern Highlands cold and into the historic Robertson Hotel, a place filled with grand Gatsby-era elegance. What waited inside made me stop and…
More Myself
Perhaps growing older is not so much about becoming someone different, but about rediscovering who we have always been. I used to think growing older meant moving further away from the girl I once was, but in many ways it has brought me back to her. Getting older has not made me less myself, but…
The Waiting Heart
There are stories we carry for years before life gives us the experience to understand them. On Sunday night, I found myself waiting for my seventeen-year-old grandson to arrive. He was making his own way from home to our place, travelling more than one hundred kilometres from door to door. I had a warm meal…
The Stories We Keep
The stories we hear again and again often become the ones we carry long after the storyteller has fallen silent. There is something about the smell of cardamom and cinnamon in the kitchen, and the feel of flour on the bench, that seems to loosen old stories and bring them back to the surface. When…
Stay, I Pray You
Perhaps one of the most meaningful gifts of being loved is discovering that someone who never shared our experiences has come to understand just how deeply they shaped us. Last night I went to the theatre to see a live production of Anastasia, and from the moment it began, I felt myself being drawn into…
Forever in My Heart
What we experience as an ordinary part of life may be something another generation sacrificed everything to protect. On your day of independence, my beautiful Finland, my heart always returns to you. It returns with pride, but also with tenderness. Because freedom is never just a word when you know what it cost. It is…
Raindrops Keep Falling
Sometimes we discover our strength only when we have no choice but to use it. In Finland, we have a word for resilience — sisu. It means the kind of grit that carries you through when willpower alone isn’t enough. I like to think I have a fair bit of it, but yesterday morning, as…
Nordic Living
The more we let go of what distracts us, the easier it becomes to recognise what truly nourishes us. I’m sitting here with a mug of tea in hand, simply contemplating life. The steam curls upward, carrying with it a quiet reminder that even the smallest rituals can anchor us. Today was a day off,…
The Silent Clock
As we grow older, the years behind us do not disappear; they become part of who we are. Where do the years go? They slip through our hands so quietly, and yet they do not disappear. They live on within us, just beneath the surface, waiting for the smallest thing to bring them back. A…
