In my head – My Journey to Kili and Back

The Virus Diary – Month 11 – Second wave

5 tammikuun, 2021 Ei kommentteja

”As of 22 November there have been over 57.8 million cases and 1.3 million deaths reported globally since the start of the pandemic”
Source: WHO weekly report

And now 5th of January 2021 there has been 84,2 million cases and 1,8 million deaths (source WHO)

The amount sounds huge and is huge. I stopped thinking in days a while ago and so has WHO and everyone else. Let’s talk about months. How many more months? We had a nice summer break and everything was ”almost normal”. Then schools started and slowly the cases have been rising also here in Finland. Officially the southern part hit the ”third” phase, where the we are not able to track all the infections again. New restriction were put in place. All government public places are closed and private sector places suggestion is to do the same. No functions more than 10 people and if possible avoid even those.

So do not meet anyone, go anywhere or do anything. Simple huh?

Nowadays I feel like I live with headphones on all the time during the day…

It sounds easy when you put it like that, but being an extrovert like me (well at least most of the times… I got my ”I don’t want to see anyone” – moments too and that is what the forest is for) it’s hard having been working at home for 11 months and not really going anywhere or seeing anyone. They say live in the moment. Well this particular moment (or year 2020) I could skip as this seems to last forever. Then again it seems like it never happened which is strange.

The concept of time has definitely been different past year. It’s funny how you get used to certain things and expect them to happen in the same sequence, but disruption (like covid-19) puts everything in different perspective. It’s been hard to put things in line, side by side or right in front of you. Nothing is like it seems. Nothing happens like it used to. Nothing is predictable. Life is a continuous change.

I’m usually really good with change, but I have struggled to keep up with all of this. Schedules for kids change. Distance learning, summer holiday, not distance learning, autumn holiday. Shorter day, longer day. Distance learning, not distance learning. Oops we changed it again. Sorry, did we forget to tell you? With four kids and three different schools and four different grades, they are all treated a bit different and messages from teachers keep coming and you try to keep up, but this is not working.

In all honesty. Great try, but this will not work on permanent basis. Keep it simple and let’s get back to normal!

Yet I and probably many others have found some sort of peace or calmness with all this. I have noticed that when you need to spend so much time online it’s easier to have some sort of headphones on all day to catch phone calls and join meetings. I have learned to master remote technology and take full use of this flexible working our company offers which is a great benefit itself!

Here in Finland also the restrictions are not as bad as elsewhere. We do have them and they unfortunately have hit some industries more than others. It’s not ideal and a lot of people have lost their jobs, income or a loved one, but we have managed to keep this thing under control relatively well they say. We have not been forced to go into complete lockdown and wearing a mask is now normal. You don’t really see people without one anymore which is great and no doubt has helped in stopping the virus spreading into uncontrolled chaos. So I am happy to wear the mask a few more months if that helps. Let’s hope it does!

New year, vaccination, new beginning?

Now that the year changed, did we manage to dodge the worst of the second wave? Not sure yet. It did look really good just before Christmas, but now schools will start again in a few days and people will come back from their holiday destinations (Lapland seems to have been a more popular destination than normal for Finns) and we will know for sure where we are headed.

They have started vaccinating here in Finland too, only the hospital personnel so far but apparently the vaccinations are not progressing as quickly as some would hope. I am happy to wait for mine, wear the mask and avoid people a few more months knowing there may be an end to this.

Restrictions will continue here in Finland at least until the end of January 2021, but let’s see what happens after that. They opened a covid-19 drive/walk-through test station next door to my house a few months ago and working from home I have had live feed on how the pandemic is progressing. The higher the amount of infections the longer the queue to the tests seems to correlate. Now in past days the queue has been moderate so I am slightly hopeful.

What after all this?

So we have found some sort of equilibrium with the virus now and pretty sure some habits will stick long after it’s gone, but what will be the first changes? Will we be able to keep music festivals? Go to movie theaters and opera? We got tickets to opera as a present a while ago which have been unused, we got a bunch of movie tickets unused and I would surely love to go to a concert or sing in one myself for that matter. What about flying? I’m sure flying will change and masks may be a permanent thing when travelling, but will travelling in general ever be the same? Can we trust to travel overseas as freely as we did? I do miss seeing other places as much as I love Finland and the nature here. Mostly I miss mountains and views from high above. I miss the versatile nature.

What I miss the most though is seeing family, friends and give everyone HUGS. Truly hope we can get those back soon <3 Everything else can wait <3

Stay strong, safe and healthy everyone. We are so much closer to the end of this now than a year ago! (hahaha)

(And I’m kinda hoping there won’t be too many posts to my virus diary anymore 😉 )

In my head

100 published posts!

4 syyskuun, 2020 Ei kommentteja

Wohou! 100 published posts! Time to celebrate.
When did that happen?
When have I had time to post 100 blog posts 🙂

When I started this blog I wasn’t really sure what I would write or where it would head to. I just remembered that I loved writing when I was younger and wanted to continue it in some form. Me and my friend Susanne used to have these writing competitions where we chose a topic, a plot and we both either wrote about it or we wrote one page each and next page the other or similar. I have saved some of those and they wait in a box to which I always stumble upon when moving house. They make me smile when I read them <3

So I wanted to give writing a blog a chance in my schedule when I can. Decided to write about me getting ready for Kilimanjaro climb, about trail running and climbing high places since all that was part of my training , but now in more than a year it has evolved to have it’s own life so to speak.

During the year I published My Weight Loss Journey series and now I have been working on the Getting old(er) series and got a few other topics on my mind for the future. Earlier before summer I published my Portfolio page which has gotten actually most traffic . It was published mostly to combine all my ”not day job” experience together when applying for modelling/tv/movie extra gigs and it has worked well for it, but now it has become already ”too big” so will need to publish a v2 of it and simplify it a bit.

I have to though admit that I have not had time to write lately. It is a shame as I love writing and hope to be able to get more time to focus on that. So let’s see what my next 100 posts will be about, but it is so great that you are now reading this and joining my journey.

See you again in 100 (and more!) posts.

In my head

In my head – Nature, silence and back to work

7 elokuun, 2019 Ei kommentteja

It is hard to describe the feeling you get when you just keep going up and reach the top. The saying you get hungrier the more you eat is very true with hiking as it seems you need to get higher, get better views and push yourself just a little bit further next time.

Me and my husband spent 1,5 weeks hiking up North of Finland and Norway during our summer vacation in July 2019. This area is above the Arctic Circle meaning the sun does not set for a period of few months during the summer but similarly it does not rise either for equally as long time during winter.

Listening to silence in Lapland

Ever since I got back from holiday I have had difficulty getting used to the constant noise/hum of the city that is around (and we are talking about a relatively small city of Helsinki, capital of Finland). It was great to come back to the city, put on some makeup, pretty clothes, high heels, head out to the center, have a cup of coffee in a nice coffee shop and just observe people passing by. I do enjoy the city buzz and atmosphere, but every now and then after getting back, I’ve gotten this anxiety as if there is too much going on around me. Too many people, too much noise and you just want to put earplugs in your ears, make it stop and be silent for a while.

It is a strange feeling because I don’t remember having that before. I don’t want to live in a forest and grow my own veggies, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something about nature that’s calms you down. I believe it when they say that it settles your nerves and sort of recharges your energy levels. I’m pretty sure it also lowers your heartbeat and therefore also your blood pressure. Maybe that is what I am longing for, that calming quiet feeling?

Here I am anyway now back in the city and back to normal routines. School starts tomorrow and next Monday for the kids so I think pretty much everybody’s back from holidays soon here in Finland so it’s going to be a full buzz again.

I am sure this feeling goes away and I will get used to the ”noise/hum” of the city again, but this time there is another kind of ”noise” I will remember and can look forward to ”listening” again which is the gentle sound of the nature. Wind, rain, trees, birds, streams and sometimes you don’t hear anything at all.

That is what I look forward to, and will in the future remember to seek more often. It seems that my body and mind needs it, so more National park visits ahead. All good suggestions and nature gems you have found in the Southern part of Finland especially are welcome.