Mindful Voices of Europe: mind-expanding outdoors moments

Finland: Home is Worth As Much As Gold

I wake up every day to the enchanting sounds of nature at my feet. Oh, how amazing it is to be back home! There is no place like it. Finland, my birthplace, seems somewhat foreign to me.How ironic! A native, yet also a foreigner in my own country. I have never lived here full-time, but maybe that is a good thing. It allows everything to remain fresh in my mind. Nothing ever becomes obsolete or dull. I do not envy those who grow tired of these scenes.

Open the front door and you notice how small you are. Trees engulf and surround you. The birds are chirping and the grass is growing. You are one with, yet also without, nature. It does not need you, but you need it. This place would be nothing without it. Looking down from my garage towards the lake leaves me breathless. The waves are crashing on the beach and the sounds of church bells echo from the other side of the lake. Our neighbours soar past in their little motor boat, fishing with their children and grandchildren. A friendly wave plasters a smile on my face. What a place!

I make my way through our garden to our creaky wooden dock. I take out a fishing rod and sit there patiently. Curiosity sets in and I start thinking about a million different things. What is life like for these fish? Have they figured out what it is that we are trying to do with this hook and bait? Do they feel and understand each other? There is no way of telling, but perhaps that is the beauty of it. Not everything can be explained and some things always remain a mystery. That gives way to the imagination. Sometimes your thoughts are all you need to be happy. I remember as a child thinking that all I wanted to do whilst fishing was win. By that I mean, catch a lot of fish. But now, I am starting to think that playing the game is most important. The act is what is most important. It is often the journey, not the end result, that defines who you are. It is the bliss I experience that makes me happy, not actually catching a fish, although that can be a thrill.

The absence of big city noise is what makes this place so wonderful. No cars honking, no people shouting, no police sirens thundering—nothing. Just the sounds that nature's extent allows it to make. Unfortunately, this moment was soon interrupted. Not for the worse, but for the better. For these moments are best enjoyed with others, if they see the world as you do.

My girlfriend has arrived and now puts me into tour guide mode. We all think of what it is that makes this place special and what we want others to experience to help them understand. For me it was obvious; the nature, but I had to make it easy to see. A short drive away are hills, which during the winter make up a ski resort, but in the summer, are deserted. People believe that since there is little going on during the summer, that these hills see no action. How naïve!These hills see everything. They see it from higher ground. They have a perfect view down to one of the 187,888 gorgeous lakes that this country is home to. One word to describe this view - ethereal.

All I hope is that she can appreciate this moment as much as I can. Little did I know, she enjoyed it more than I did or possibly could. Nothing compares to seeing something so breath-taking for the first time. The wonder in her eyes was what truly satisfied me. Being able to amaze someonewith the place I call home, was something indescribable. We stood and stared for a while, trying to absorb every little detail of the landscape we could. The blossoming and radiant flowers, the luscious and green trees, the long fresh grass, the whitest of clouds and the bluest of lakes. How innocent and honest it all was.

We then continued our walk into a nearby forest. It was like a scene from a movie; the light seeped in through the cracks in the trees, blueberries sprouted all around us and a small path led our way through this magical place. The insatiable humans in us thought that perhaps this path would take us somewhere even more wondrous.

We eventually became lost and had two options: take the same path back or follow a dirt road we found. We chose option three, dive deeper into the woods and simply hope to find our way back. We had not had enough yet. We headed straight in and, this time, not on a path.

What a strange feeling this expedition gave me. Although paths are created through the erosion of this delicate wildlife, I felt worse for not trekking on one. I was the first to take this route and to make the initial damage. Even though I left no trace, I felt responsible for something. Howillogical, yet logical at the same time. We continued to hike and stuffed as many blueberries into our mouths as we could. There were too many to handle. We wanted them all. Our mouths, hands and clothes soon became purple and that triggered a thought. Much like how humans leave a mark on nature (the paths), nature reciprocates. It almost seems as though the purple staining from the blueberries was a divine plan, as if to say that the beauty that we see here is not enough. Somehow nature has to prove to us that we can most definitely be stained with the beauty of its paints and find that we are immeasurably part of this heavenly canvas, even whenwe feel we are not. This world is ours and will be if we give back just as much, if not more than we take. Work to keep what you have and appreciate it as much as you can.

by Joonas JOKINEN