21st Birthday

When I turned 21 a few days ago I escaped to the north of Sweden to go skiing with my family, because birthday parties give me anxiety.

It’s not parties in general, just that if I host one myself I feel like EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE THE BEST NIGHT THEY’VE EVER HAD and that’s a lot of pressure. So I haven’t really had a birthday party since I was a small kid. It’s good then that I have friends who throw me surprise parties (even if I’m sweaty and disgusting from skiing when I arrive.) (And to be fair my mum organised a lot of it, which is extremely sweet and a little bit sad at the same time, considering I’m supposedly a “grown up”. But hey, next birthday I’ll probably be on another continent (I pray))

Anyway, birthday=great, and here you have a pre-party sisters picture.

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Love.

Necessary procrastination

The word procrastination does not exist in the swedish language. We have a word that means to push something to the future, but procrastinating is not just postponing something, it’s the verb for what you’re actually doing while pushing something to the future. So it describes doing something, but it describes it not by saying what you’re doing, but by saying what you are NOT. (weird word, I like it)

Sometimes though, I think the subconscious processing of thoughts is undervalued. 

It always makes me think about a story I heard once. It’s about the emperor of China or something, and how he told an artist to paint the most beautiful painting ever (of some motif, I don’t remember). The artist spent years working on his painting, but when he was supposed to be done, he asked for another year, and another, saying he was not quite finished. When he finally appeared before the emperor and uncovered the canvas, it was empty. He then took his paints out, and painted the most beautiful painting in 15 minutes. 

How long did it take for the artist to paint the picture? 15 minutes? Or all those years?

I can usually write a school essay because I’ve been writing it for a long time. Even if I write it the night before it’s due, it’s been in the back of my mind for a long time.

The question is, is it better to consciously decide to do something later, instead of constantly pushing it to the next minute? Do some intentional procrastinating? (I suppose that’s called planning) Or is the stress necessary to constantly have it there in the back of your mind?

I don’t know. I don’t have enough patience to finish writing about this.

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The power is out in my whole village. Even the streetlights, I could barely find my way home from the bus. It made me feel really good though, the stars and now the candles at home, maybe I’ll even manage to go to bed early.

Also, here is a photo of a recent painting, so that this post becomes less boring:

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bye!

Winter

Went cross country skiing today. Then I drank hot chocolate and ate waffles and got really emotional about this place I’ve been visiting for as long as I can remember.

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(The thing about skiing is that it’s in my blood and bones, it’s what my dad and grandpa and great grandma did, it’s old and Swedish and the forests are dark and the views beautiful. It’s freedom and being out of breath and so much pressure. It’s me as a little girl. And it’s weird to think about the people working here, the guy preparing the tracks outside the window right now, or anyone else who’s been here. Weird that this place could mean even more to any of them.)

(no)tes.

I was going to write something on this blog today.

But then I thought (no).

But then I thought yes. Because I don’t really have anything I feel like saying right now, but I have tons of notes on my phone and on various pieces of paper. So here are some of the things I’ve thought and written down lately:

  • Growing up is a bit like biting into a cloud and expecting the chewiness of marshmallows, or the taste of childhood dreams, but just finding your own teeth.
  • Fiction is a wonderful way of describing things that are real, through things that are not.
  • It’s a big thing, to deal with your feelings and know who you are.
  • Oh to not collapse under the weight of your own breathing.
  • Maybe we’re all just scared that our demons are the only ones who actually know who we are.
  • (There’s nothing under your skin. There’s no one beneath your bones.)
  • When you don’t want to have the made up responsibilities associated with being human, remember that you don’t.

Good night, sleep well, sweet dreams.

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2016

The thing is, 2016 was a good year. Great year, 9/10 (always leave space for things to get better).

Because one of my biggest fears is that – because of fear – I’ll never get to do any of the things I want to do. But this year I moved away from home for the first time, lived abroad. Had several different lifestyles and different jobs. I was challenged and matured and met a whole new family of friends. Got to go to the US, Kenya, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and then Germany again. That’s actually crazy?? I’ve lived in 2016 for a lifetime. And those are the kind of years I want. Let’s dare to believe that things get even better.

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Golden paper on the table so that we could make party hats. We look fabulous.