When I was younger, the days between Christmas and New Year felt almost sacred. A quiet pause in the calendar where I would reflect on what had been and carefully map out what was to come. Lists were written, intentions set, dreams neatly arranged as though life itself might follow my handwriting. I still return…
Tag: Longing and Belonging
Forever in My Heart
On your day of independence, my beautiful Finland,my heart turns to you with both pride and sorrow. What a tremendous price has been paid for your freedom.Your independence did not arrive wrapped in celebration—it was carved out of hardship, sacrifice, and the courageof those who had so little, yet gave everything. I think of my…
The Beauty of Advent
There is a unique beauty in Advent, a quietness that settles over the heart like soft morning light. It is a season that invites us to slow down, and to make room again for hope. While the world around us begins to rush, Advent whispers a different rhythm — one of waiting, watching, and listening….
A Bird with Two Homes
I recently read about a bird so extraordinary it took my breath away. The Bar-tailed godwit — known in Finnish as kuovi or more specifically isovesipääsky — is not just another pretty bird. This long-legged, long-billed wonder is one of the world’s greatest flyers, performing an annual feat that seems nearly impossible. It migrates from…
Storyteller
My phone just gave me another warning: Storage almost full. Again. I take a lot of photos. Not always for an audience, not to curate a perfect life, but to gather crumbs — breadcrumbs in the forest of my life. Each image a small, shining proof that I saw, felt, touched, loved. That moment mattered….
Miss You Most
When the lilacs begin to bloom and the forest floor turns into a sea of white lily of the valley, that’s when I miss you most of all. The air grows heavy with a perfume that drifts through my memories like mist through the birch trees, soft and persistent, calling me back. When your nights…
My Finnish Identity
Today is suomalaisuudenpäivä — The Day of Finnish Identity. In Finland, flags rise in honour of J.V. Snellman, the statesman and philosopher who championed the Finnish language and helped shape the soul of a nation. He believed in a Finland that could speak — in its own language, with its own voice. For those of…
This is Your Time
Autumn is my spring. While others come alive with the first blossoms and the lengthening days of spring, I stir awake with the falling leaves, with the crisp bite in the air and the golden hush that settles gently across the world. It’s as though something deep within me has been lying dormant through the…
Grandfather Clock
There is a particular kind of solace that lives in my family’s old grandfather clock. It hangs on my wall downstairs, keeping the rhythm of time with its steady, gentle “tick-tock.” On days when life feels brittle, when I am frazzled or unsettled, I listen to that sound, and it’s like a lullaby, a tender…
Food Nostalgia
Food nostalgia creates a rich fabric of memories that carry us back to cherished moments of warmth and love. For me, that journey begins in a sunlit kitchen, where the aroma of fresh bread intertwines with the comforting scent of simmering soup. It’s a place where each clink of utensils and hum of the oven…
Apples of Gold 