It’s coming on Christmas

... and I have not been writing or researching for such a long time. This autumn has been pretty intense. I have had to make some priority changes - mainly focusing on seeing friends and family when I have not been travelling with work. We've had a short window of social possibilities in Sweden, which...

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

My great grandmothers Olga and Dagny were both alone when they travelled back to Sweden after having spent their entire adult lives in China being missionaries together with their husbands. Olga’s husband Nils passed in ileus, in 1942 (age 61) and Dagny’s husband Robert died from heart disease in 1930 (age 62). They were both...

Photos Revealing Photos Lost

Going through some photos from my ancestor's time in China, I find it fascinating to scrutinize the contents of those photos that - at a first glance - don't seem very interesting. Have you done that? Really looked at the details in a photograph and discovered something that reveals a new dimension? I had that...

What do You Tell Your Kids When the World is Burning?

How do you explain the meaning of life to kids who grow up while the world around them is burning? How do you answer their worried questions about their future, when people are are dying from meaningless violence by the minute, all over the world. I'm asking, because I know I'm not alone thinking about...

Running to keep calm

Are you one of those who can't get by if you don't get to go out running? What is it that makes you do it? I went out running the other day. No big deal for lots of people, perhaps, but for me it has been a process. Running used to be connected to mixed...

Effortless change

Have you ever thought you have to change something that you are doing? And then simply not done it because to keep on doing what you have always done felt much easier? Habits seem hard to change, but once we have overcome the first obstacles, I usually find it harder to go back to how...

Winter silence

I often think about how happy I am to have found peace to stay on for a longer period of time in Stockholm. It truly is an amazingly beautiful city. It's hard to believe this is the capital of Sweden. About 900 000 inhabitants live here, which makes it a small town compared to cities...

Reflections on Berlin

Berlin is ever changing. Last week I read that they've decided on building four new skyscrapers in the city. They were first planning for a hight of 150 metres, but now it seems they will make do with 130 metres 🙂 They're also tearing down old buildings around Hakescher Markt, where the area is becoming...

The importance of memory

Mindfulness. It’s about being in the moment. Nothing but what you feel right now should matter. Nothing but the sensation of putting your foot to the ground, feeling the gravel underneath your soles, the wind against your face and how the clothes on your body feel against the skin. Being in the now. Something to...

Curiosity, Culture and Change

Thinking about people and companies undergoing change, I find that some things seem to repeat themselves. People are in essence driven to change by the belief that they will benefit from it in some way. Even if it's for a "greater good," the personal benefit still has to be there. Few people will contribute to...

Life changing choices

Some choices are bigger and more life changing than others. Last weekend, I went to Falun - a beautiful world heritage site, hosting the Falu copper mine, the Carl Larsson Residence and many other historic buildings. Falun was a big part in keeping Sweden afloat hundreds of years ago. Today, they still produce the famous...

Food, flowers and a garden swing

You could hear it from afar. The metal garden swing, sitting on the stone pavement laid out in the garden of my grandparents. Thin grass grew between the stone slabs, but did nothing to prevent the swing from giving up its creaky sound. The heavier the ones swinging back and forth were, the less it...

“Fika” and mindfulness

I can’t pick anymore. My back hurts. He's ten years old. Just now, he stood, fully focused. Bent over the wild strawberries, picking them carefully between his thumb and forefinger. Berries so small, bursting with sweet taste. He was careful not to press too hard. Gently tugging them from the stem, putting them whole in...

Only in America?

Only in America. Or wherever you are. Rama Allen is a man, who has a job you think is kind of impossible. It’s all about being what he himself calls a ”futurist weirdo”. And that is an understatement. I listened to Rama Allen at the Festival of Digital Narratives, organized by Nordvision in Helsinki in...

Making the days count

Soon, summer holidays are here. Like every year, I am fascinated by how much one can long for the holidays. It's like we're anticipating such a long stretch of free time, where all and nothing shall happen. Time to spend with family and friends, time to travel, time to enjoy nature, time to read and...

Reorganising life and embracing change

What happens to people going through major changes? How do you deal with change? I've been thinking about this as I have friends who are in the  middle of change in different ways and I've also thought a lot about my grandparents, who had to tackle major life changing situtations throughout their whole lives. My...

Screen reflections

She's eleven years old, soon turning twelve. She loves her phone which carries all her favourite tv- and youtube-series, her music lists, her social media apps and of course all the phone numbers to friends and family. But even with all this, she has a hard time connecting. Not with the internet, but with new...

It continues inside

I’m intrigued. Since I started looking into my grandmother’s history - a Finnish Swede who left Finland in her youth to serve in Swedish households as a maid – I have been eager to learn more about both the Finnish and the Swedish societies at the time. Have you noticed, that when your mind is...

The (im)possible dream of synchronisation

I had one of those mornings. You know, when you spill the instant coffee all over the floor, walk into every corner and sit down just in time to get up again to separate the kids, fighting over the toaster. One of those mornings when nothing flows. When the edges are rough, and the day...

Looking in

On my way to Helsinki to take part in a festival about digital narratives, my thoughts go back to my roots. Finland is part of where I come from. But Finland is not part of my self-lived narrative which makes it a bit complicated. Finland is the silence, that was part of my childhood, like...