Serenity
33
Honouring objects
These days my curiosity, and much of my mental energy, goes towards the 'why' behind being in the world differently, striving towards dwelling in places and generally on the Earth in a more harmonious way. However, recently a fellow human shared these fabric patches with me (photo above). They are made by a Finnish company and are something like plasters for clothing etc. The patched items can be washed. This made me contemplate honouring the objects I live with.
31
Inner being
Photo above: Umeå in December
"Eros pushes toward self-fulfillment, but it is not at all the egocentric assertion of one’s subjective whims and wishes on a passive world. The idea of “mastering” nature or reality would have horrified the Greeks and would promptly have been labelled hubris, or inordinate pride which is an affront to the gods and a sure invitation for a man’s doom. The Greeks always showed a respect which amounted to a reverence for the objective, given world. They delighted in their world—its beauty, its form, its endless challenges to their curiosity, its mysteries to be explored; and they were everlastingly attracted by this world. [...] Their tragic view itself enabled them to delight in life. You can’t outwit death anyway by “progress” or accumulating wealth; so why not accept your fate, choose values which are authentic, and let yourself delight and believe in the being you are and the Being you are part of?" (May, 2007, p. 71).
May, R. (2007) Love and will. W.W. Norton & Company: London.
30
Starting to dwell in southern Finland
Moving to a large city means facing and using certain unavoidable structures. Here in Helsinki, despite my attempts to live more sustainably, my life seems very much normal. It is not to say that alternative spaces do not exist, or that existing systems are bad (e.g., the recycling system seems good), but it is hard to know how and where alternatives spaces exist.
Like many others I use public transport, especially the metro, rather often. I've been avoiding most modes of public transportation (apart from trains) since around 2011 when I permanently moved away from the city which also had a metro. Even though public transport is better than private cars, I chose walking whenever possible since public transport still uses energy, and walking is a meditative and transformative activity. Walking was possible in the small cities where I lived in both England and Sweden: all the government authorities, the university, banks, stores, train stations and so on were easily reachable. Here in Finland I live very close to the university, but very far from various government agencies.
Here in the capital region I buy food from conventional supermarkets and locally made soaps and balms (a need in a Nordic country in winter) in a conventional store. And since my mode of being feels overall rather conventional, I try to pay even more attention to sufficiency and simplicity or living with less. It gives me a sense of agency and being active towards a more ecological society, though of course these steps also feel small and insignificant. Living with less concerns not only the number of objects I live with, but also colour. These days I have been reflecting a lot on colours as well as materials that I live with. Perhaps these thoughts have been influenced by joining Aalto university which is named after the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto whose designs communicate minimalism. To reach the business school, which is now my academic home, every day I walk through the school of design. They seem to use a lot of wood which is beautiful and honours this abundant in Finland 'resource' (it feels strange to use this word to refer to trees, i.e., fellow beings).
Minimalism in Finland
The picture above shows part of the balcony of the place where I am staying temporarily. Unfortunately, the place is fully furnished. Living without furniture is my preferred mode of dwelling in a space which I can call home.
Colours
Such colours are not only calming (to me), but living only with beige and grey clothing saves water: I can do my laundry once a week without separating the items by colour. In Sweden the apartment I lived in came with a washing machine. Here in my temporary Finnish accommodation there is a laundry room, and the washing machines must be shared. I initially thought I would not like this practice, but this arrangement seems to work well: there is less noise in the apartment and it looks like the temptation to wash things whenever is reduced.
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