“Being ”low” is being stuck in self-centered negativity. Being ”high” is being stuck in exalted states. Being expansive is being expanded in the three dimensions which is subtle but as stuck. Being ”here” is being stuck in the middle. Being ”now” is being stuck in time. To un-stuck we need to discover wakefullness that liberates all these positions. To be natural requires us to see through all habits and formations. In the end you’ll have no idea who you are and yet your stance will be as firm as all Himalayan mountains combined.” – Amrita Baba
Photo is from these past few week’s heavy snowfall ..
1) There is a growing number of people who are getting more into healing themselves through holistic therapies and dharma, and especially trauma therapy. As humans, we ALL have trauma stored inside our bodies’ cells and aura to bigger or lesser degree. This can for example show up as a wish to not be in our own bodies, try to change the physical body with surgery or as severe anxiety, to name just a few. Feeling fundamentally safe and loved is the basis for all healing
2) I noticed a bigger trend in young people towards embracing and taking back traditional ways of living, such as farming, sewing/handcrafts and eating more non-processed foods, while taking better care of animals and land as well
3) There is a growing emphasis on the importance and magic of childbearing and motherhood. How much power and grace a woman has to actually be a portal of life/love, and how she can be in CHARGE of her own birthing process by preparing and learning from other mothers. When baby is born, Mother is also born – in many ways, they raise each other
4) Lastly, I am happy to see that there is a bit more emphasis on choosing the right partner in our society. That people are taking more time to get to know someone they fancy, having important discussions on values and on raising kids, and how they wish to choose someone healthy and emotionally stable. I think it is important to remember that when you choose a partner, you choose your child’s grandparents too. You choose your child’s genes. You choose a whole new family, and also their generational patterns, and possible future generations. Our choices have huge impact on lives and the planet. I realise that often there are situations that make it hard or even impossible to have anything to do with in-laws or that some partners don’t wish children, which is fine of course! But just to mention, I am happy to see this change, because I am not a fan of forced/rushed marriages nor of being so afraid of commitment and responsability that one chooses a life alone – those two extremes seems best avoided. We humans/mammals are not meant to live alone, we work best in a family setting, or small community setting. This is especially true for men.
Ok, that was my weird little list of things I have been thinking about and witnessing this year, and I think they were worth mentioning. I wish you all a fantastic New Year, may it be what you make it! Xx ✨️✨️✨️
Free newly released book by Amrita Baba. Such a gem. Download here.
“The subtle body is the mind. When you have a selfish thought in your mind, the life energy
that is coursing through your subtle body flows through the location directly behind your
eyes, which is the 1st bhumi location, in other words where the 1st bhumi chakra is located.
When the life energy (skt. prana) flows through the rest of the subtle body made ofnumerous thread-like channels, you get energetic qualities and emotional feelings into
your being depending on what is stored or imprinted on the channels. In self-based mind
this feel is typically marked with contraction and negativity. Tantric yoga looks at the mind
and its thoughts, emotions and functions in this way, energetically. This is the reason why
tantrics among themselves speak of energetics and why sensing energies is something that
all masters of tantra develop through their studies and practices.”
“People in this book are all Western women and men, who all did their practice in the midst
of their ordinary daily lives with jobs, families and other typical features of modern city
living. These individuals are Irish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swiss. All of them did
regular short retreats with me, ranging from two days to a week, but none of them spent
months or years meditating in caves or holy places. They all received empowerments and
many direct introductions into the natural state from me. They practiced the Amrita
Mandala method and its various techniques.
Externally, they look as normal as everyone else. I know each one of them personally and
could say that they are normal people and do not stand out. They’ve had childhood
traumas, financial successes and failures, physical and mental illnesses, romances, births
of children, divorces, addictions and burnouts, all very typical human experiences. Some of
them are in relationships or married while others are single. They work as artists, CEO’s,
IT-specialists, hairdressers, dharma teachers and have at times been unemployed.
However, they are all perfectly awake now which separates buddhas from sentient beings
and them from the vast majority of people. As you can read from their stories, they used to
be deluded and in existential pain but due to their commitment to dharma practice, it all
became part of their past. All of these people sorted out the samsaric mind, i.e. became
fully enlightened, in less than six years of practice. One of them reached liberation in just
three years.”
The sky is always so colourful right before polarnight sets inEarly in NovemberAn important topic and film (“The silence in Sápmi”) Saw it in the cinema, I think it will be put online later.Made some Christmas decor with our son ❤️From high up! Propeller plane ride from Arctic to Southern Finland ❄️🤍🌌His third plane ride, and he isn’t even two!Amrita Mandala yoga retreat 20+ people in person and online, practising yoga-dharma together for 4 days. In PorvooMe doing Dzogchen Metta practice with Jenna ✨️Photo of calender I printed with my own photos. These are for June, because they were taken in June at midnight. I chose this photo for March because that is when these little birdies return. 11 am 💜💛🤍
Soon we enter December and thus the last month of 2022. Hope you are all staying warm and safe, and that Christmas is not a source of stress, but a time for relaxing and magic ✨️❄️
Morning sunlight through the autumn leavesDew drops…Patch of neighbourhood bathing in morning lightA kind of autumn bouqet I pickedIt’s dark in the evenings now. Hello candles!The golden season
Can I just say, this is the best photo anyone has ever taken of me? Susann, thank you for capturing my essence. Here I am wearing a headdress and silk liidni I sewed myself, and the gákti summer dress is made by Nadezda Johnsen. Autumn wind…🧡🍂🙌🏼Life is a lot of chopping wood and carrying water… I think that is how the saying goes 😉
“Your healing journey will, of course, include a consideration and use of all the best tools modern medicine can offer you, as well as the best tools holistic healing can offer you. From a deeper perspective, illness is caused by unfulfilled longing. The deeper the illness, the deeper the longing. It is a message that somehow, somewhere, you have forgotten who you are and what your purpose is. You have forgotten and disconnected from the purpose of your creative energy from your core. Your illness is the symptom: The disease represents your unfulfilled longing. So above all else, use your illness to set yourself free to do what you have always wanted to do, to be who you have always wanted to be, to manifest and express who you already are from your deepest, broadest, and highest reality. If indeed you have discovered yourself to be ill, prepare yourself for change, expect your deepest longing to surface and to be brought to fruition. Prepare yourself to finally stop running and turn and face the tiger within you, whatever that means to you in a very personal way. I suggest the best place to start to find the meaning of your illness is to ask yourself: “What is it that I have longed for and not yet succeeded in creating in my life?”’ (From Barbara Brennan’s book Emerging Light)
Yellow birch leaves bathing in the sunlight. Ramfjorden/Gáranasvuotna.Calm sea….🍂The yellow trees against the blue sky is a sight to behold. 💛💙Very happy with this shot, was thinking for many weeks that I wanted to take this photo and feel like I nailed it just how I wished 😄👍🏻This one is with phone camera, because I could not find my Panasonic camera (found it 2 days later, exactly where I put it!) Tinden / Sálašoaivi.Another phone shot, but feel like I really captured the mood of the weather, even though it is bad quality! ☔️
New painting inspired by the Arctic autumn.. Colourful landscape and a Sun that has started to set again after midnightsun season is over. This is a gift for my father, who is kind of the one who gave me art and an interest in art. 🍂🍁🌅🙌🏼
Sunlight in the sea – the grey stuff is mudLate summer in AugustA foot bath in the sea mudA funny cloud that looked like skaller (nuvttohat/sámi pelt shoe)Kvaløya seen from Tromsø islandA pale yellow flower from my mother’s gardenOur son being immersed in play
“Darkness, no matter how ominous and intimidating, is not a thing or force: it is merely the absence of light. So light need not combat and overpower darkness in order to displace it – where light is, darkness is not. A thimbleful of light will therefore banish a roomful of darkness. The same is true of good and evil: evil is not a thing or force, but merely the absence or concealment of good. One need not ‘defeat’ the evil in the world; one need only bring to light its inherent goodness.”
Vajra brocade jacket in green and gold I was lucky to find in local second hand store. It is handmade, too, wonder who made it and gave it away.
I wanted to make a post on the physical body. I have noticed in social media a trend called ‘body positivity’, and I wanted to share my own version of what that means to me:
Knowing that my body is made from the natural elements and is a result of thousands of generations
Reminding myself that all my cells are working hard to keep me alive every day
Eating traditional sustainable foods that my body easily turn into energy
Deep sleep and meditation to give body healing and vitality
Practice prayer and mantras to help body get rid of karmic traces stored inside the cells
Strength training to keep joints stable and posture straight
Keeping in mind how ancestors lived, and how they treated their bodies
Reminding myself to breathe with my belly, through nose and keeping my tongue in the roof of mouth, while jaw relaxed, as this feels most natural and it makes body relax
Tapping into body’s innate healing powers if I feel sick
Feeling how the body is an anchor that exists and keeps us in the present moment
Maybe I could add more later. What would you add? Thanks for reading, have a lovely day. -M
My mum staring into the ocean 💙Little flowers in the sand at our hidden secret beach.Beach view.Our son got to see and play with the ocean waves. He was kind of scared, but also curious!Prestvannet / BáhpajávriSome lotus like flowers at the Arctic Alpine botanic garden. In the forest 💚Some gorgeous tulips outside the Polar Museum in Tromsø.My beautiful coffee bag sewn by duojár Inga Nilsen Eira. It’s made from reindeer skin, wool and cotton bands, and braided reindeer skin string. Perfect to bring my coffee on walks and trips ❤️
The Winter is stubborn this year, not allowing Spring to enter just yet. I don’t really mind, but also looking forward to green fields, bird song, less layers of clothing and mountain streams. Hope everyone has a great Spring, wherever you are! 🤍 All photos are taken in Arctic Troms.
Me, our son and my friend and relative ❤ Láhppigákti. Coastal Sámi.💙💛❤Hat and traditional shawl made by me ❤💛Traditional knit by his father’s mother. Belt is supposed to be on hips, but not easy when he is moving like a little maggot 🪱😄
Today, we celebrated the Sámi National Day, Feb 6th.
I have Kven/Finnish, Norwegian and Sámi heritage, and love to celebrate what I can while I can. I am deeply thankful for my connection to my heritage and my own heart, and wish you all the best 2022 possible.
My latest painting 🤍❄A little hare lives close by…🐇2021 in paintings 💙My winter solstice and Christmas outfit. An Alta/Loppa/Kvænangen-kofteinspirered Sami dress. Sewn by Nadezda Johnsen, colours and fabric chosen by me 💙❤🧡💛“New” wall decor.. My old sweater made by my grandma for me when I was little, and my old skaller.Knits also by my grandma. This was before the polar night.Amazing mosaic by Marit Bockelie in Tromsø.A few sunrays below the horizon. Midday 💙🧡💛Lights in the city.
December went by fast, only a week left of 2021. Today is Christmas eve, and we get to celebrate it with fresh snow, but most importantly; with our son, whose first Christmas it is. Wishing you all a peaceful and magical time, with lots of rest and good meals. Xx
Feeling the Sunday blues today, and felt like sharing some thoughts I have had for some time now. I hope I manage to articulate myself in a good manner, and hoping to hear others’ view on this as well 🙂
I feel it is so important to have a sense of community and identity. A tribe of sorts. In fact, we all did up until very, very recently. You could even tell what area or region people were from by their clothing. The way they proudly wore their identity and sense of community. It is so rare nowadays that tourists will literally pay thousands to witness authentic indigenous way of life.
A wedding photo from my family tree, many generations ago in Finnmark.
It sounds silly, but I miss that. I have never had it, but I miss it. I miss traditional everyday dresses and stronger traditions. I miss women being more supported with raising children by their community. Not feeling alone in our experience. We are not supposed to raise kids alone. We are not supposed to not work together and to not rely on each other. When we don’t have that community around us, we get consumed by loneliness and loss of purpose. Just think about how wonderful it feels to have a good friend or a family member who truly cares. We are utterly dependent on our safety net.
The globalisation we see today has come at a great cost. Every month, the world loses indigenous languages. Every week, less natural surroundings and every day people feel more cut off from each other, and Mother Earth. Where will we end up? Even our diets are globalised, getting adviced to eat the same here in the European Arctic as they do in warm climates. That is not sustainable. That is not what have been practiced for thousands of generations, and what our bodies are used to.
I do not wish to naively say that all things were better before, because I do not believe that they were. I do, however, think we have lost something very precious along the way, at least in my part of the world. People who wish to reclaim their sense of community and identity sometimes even feel like a fraud or a fool for ‘taking back’ something they never personally had.
I believe that the trauma experienced by virtually all humans today by having our way of life so dramatically changed in such a short timespan, needs great healing. And only we can do that job ourselves; in our own hearts and minds.
Thank you for reading, may all beings be free and happy ❤ May communities heal and may we take better care of the planet 🌎
“Regardless of the emotion being experienced — be it desire, anger, pride, jealousy, envy, greed, or whatever — what is really going on is a shift in attention. The mind is expressing itself in a different way. Nothing implicitly requires one to presume that this emotion has any reality in and of itself… It is just that the mind is expressing itself in a different way than it was a moment ago.” – Kalu Rinpoche
Photos from late autumn when it was still a bit warm. Woke up today to the first snowfall of the year!
A heart opening guided meditation session led by Kim Rinpoche.
October night sky a few weeks ago 💙🍂
If we know our hearts and our own natural state, we will also simultaneously know how to love and care. Not only for others but for ourselves and our difficult emotions. Life is so full of difficult emotions, as we know. Compassion and forgiveness is always with you, like a silent friend.
Thank you for reading and still following my blog. It is most appreciated. My posts are very sporadic, as time flies by with the new baby. Long days but short weeks. Not enough hours to get it all done, and not enough hours to just enjoy him – this new little person that runs our lives now. Motherhood is equally hard as it is wonderful. I hope to get more painting and other artsy projects into my days again.
Håja and HillesøyHåja mountain. We drove up and got the best view ever. Very happy with this photo!Arctic July.More furry neighbours.Rainy summer day.Ilo, a cute little dog we met at Reinøya.Early morning at Reinøya. Seal at Reinøya. Summer swim.. Me and my boyfriend’s mother. 8-9°c!Tromsø centrum, the pavillion.At the Arctic-Alpine Botanical garden in Tromsø. Blue Himalayan poppies. 💙 In the World’s Northernmost botanical garden.So many beautiful colours and shapes.Midsummer, 23rd of June.Tiny Arctic dolphins.Sunlight over Lyngsalpan. Rainy evening at Spåkenes. Kali 💚🖤Picked a small bouquet.
“I love the Arctic summer, it’s the best day of the year!” Short but sweet. How was your summer?
According to buddhism, this world is a samsaric world and the minds of sentient beings are samsaric minds. What does this mean? Samsara means being stuck in a repeated loop of confusion. In this repeated loop we keep making misassessments and misjudgements because we see all things in a distorted way. Being deluded and confused means that our perception of the world, ourselves and others is corrupted. Because our mind interferes with direct experience of anything faster than a blink of an eye, is the reason why there is vast confusion and conflict in this world. No matter how hard we try, samsaric beings cannot avoid thinking and feeling in distorted ways, and this makes this world a world of pain and suffering, when potentially it could be a paradise.
From morning until night we keep thinking about “I” or “me”. We perceive the things of the world and other people in terms of me and other, or me and something else. Every single day we have strong opinions even about small petty things. Every day we have high hopes and expectations about things and then we get disappointed, frustrated and angry when things don’t go like we hoped. We are simply unable to not think in this way.
Just like the arteries of the physical body get calcified over time due to bad diet and lack of exercise, so does our mind get fixated and habituated around the compulsory notion of me. This makes us small and miserable. It makes us bitter, angry, deluded and dirty. The thought of me-ness literally steals our life from us.
You can go ahead and say to yourself, “I, I, I” or “me, me, me”, a number of times. Say it in a way as if you were a bit angry about something, like you were earlier today or yesterday. Say, “me, me, me, me” with a frustrated tone, then stop and see how it makes you feel. This is not difficult.
Through this simple thought affirmation, you will feel different sensations in the body and mind. You’ll feel that your energy contracts as if you suddenly became smaller or tighter. It feels as if a loose knot was made tighter. You might feel that your belly gets tense, heart area becomes anxious or you might feel a tight band around your head. Pardon my language but this affirmation makes you feel like shit.
But wait a second… What did we do again? We only said “me” or “I” to ourselves… This is the same I-thought that we keep thinking and saying aloud every day, and it makes us feel awful. That it makes us feel awful is exactly what we need to discover.
We go around in circles and see the world in a distorted way because we are habitually centered around this thought – me. It affects everything at all times. It makes us feel small and constricted during the day and it creates weird dreams and nightmares during the night. Just like it is important to discover that the I-thought makes us feel like shit it is as important to realise that all thoughts, including the I-thought are transitory, impermanent. This means that all thoughts come and go, and do not stay, and yet we give so much meaning to them.
In samsaric mind, thoughts and thought associations define us and this creates havoc and destruction in our lives. This is psychological habituation that can be entirely removed.
“Practice being here until ‘now’ disappears. Dwell nowhere. Be beneficial to others, and you will lack nothing. Flash open your heart. Be a child of wonder, playing with generosity. Floating in a sea of billions of universes, whatever that is, “That” is all we are. It is as much out there, as it is in here. How amazing. Trade in all your wrongs, injustices, hurts, and fears for mercy, hope, compassion, and kindness. An open heart is the best medicine, open it a little more with every breath. Be like a little kid, running with Wonder, “What is this?” – words by Tilopa, the mahasiddha.
Photo from way back when. I used to love horses but now I must admit being a bit scared of them 😄🙈
How is your spring going?🌻 Myself, I am very busy with the new mama life. Barely time to write this post 😄🙏🏻 It’s hard, wonderful and all worth it.
Will be back with more photographies and updates soon. xx Monica
Allow yourself to be yourself. Close your eyes and feel the stable mountain-like presence of your own being. Indestructable, isn’t it? Your own light, your own intuition. Keep returning to yourself. To home, to where you are safe and where you belong. The same stillness that exists in nature, exists in you. There is no seperation, and it cannot be taken away or destroyed. Allow yourself to come home, over and over, until there is no doubt. xx Monica
A few snowy peaks shots from beginning of May. Spring is here! Camera used: Panasonic Lumix.
Our sweet little boy 🖤 My wool sweater knitted by grandma.
Being a mama has really opened my heart, not just for our child, but for all children. I have always loved the little new humans obviously, but being a parent takes it to another level somehow. Truly an automatic bodhicitta practice; infinite love and boundless compassion – our true nature.
Here are some beautiful motherhood art pieces I really like. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 🥰
Art by Germaine Arnaktauyok, “Quiet Time”, 2005Art by Mayoreak Ashoona, “Matching braids”, 1991
Not a painting or art print, but traditional Sámi komse (baby carrier). Truly an art piece in itself, with every woven band having a meaning. Art by Emily KewageshigArt by Alanah Jewell
How has motherhood changed you? Has it opened your heart (more)?
For the past 11 years or so, I have been teaching myself how to relax and be calm.
I have always been quite a worried person, so I feel I had to learn this in order to simply have a better life with more control. I still sometimes forget how to, but each time I remember, I do the following:
An easy quick way to instantly relax the mind and muscles, causing bloodflow to spread more evenly in the body, is to do three things simultanously: relax the jaw and eyes completely, breathe deeply into belly for at least 8 breaths and move the inner gaze/attention to the feet or ground below. Get a sense of the Earth. Notice the effect.
Another way, if you have the oppotunity, is to lay down flat, do the same with jaw and eyes, and to focus on the in and out breaths in the belly. Take deep slow breaths. Imagine them as waves ebbing on the shore.
And lastly, going into nature of course has a calming effect too, even just for 10 minutes. If you cannot go outside, perhaps painting or drawing nature is an idea.
Hope this helps! I truly believe knowing how to relax and calm our selves is an important skill. Getting carried away by the storm can be both painful and result in regrets.
Mårrakaffe og nydelig lilla tulipanKan ikke huske sist jeg laga påskeris ❤💛💚🤍💙Ingen påske uten gule (og noen lilla) tulipaner. Sola titter også oftere frem!
Was so lucky to receive this traditional Sámi bracelet from my partner’s mum as a gift “for giving her the greatest gift” (our son, her grandson) 🖤
It is made from black leather, reindeer antler button and decoration, and the braids are traditional tinwire used in duodji/daidda. It is made by @tinntraadfruen on instagram if you want to see her work 💫
What was a gift you received that had a nice meaning behind it?
“Being content with what you already have is an art form; it leads to a peace that can’t be replaced by anything else”What better shoes 🙂Loke looking like a little baked bun with icing sugar.
How do you find peace in midst of chaos? I like to go into nature, it never fails us. Especially in the cold there is crisp silence and aliveness.
Excellent talk/discussion on the topic of “dark nights”. Very nice to know how to handle, especially if you are a yoga/meditation practitioner or just prone to experience them, and how to get out of it. (Trigger warning: anxiety, depression, negative mind states).
I think it’s great when spiritual teachers talk openly about these matters. Many meditators get into spiritual practice because they want answers to their discontentment with life, to get happy. And often with practice we will hit spots in our minds that makes waves into daily life, for example if you have anxiety, it can momentarily get amplified when it is uncovered with practice. So it’s good to know that the goal is not to bypass all our problems, but to face them and to “cut through” them so that our natural state gets revealed. Over and over until all karmas are erased ❤
The buddhist path was never about feeling good and calm all the time, but to unravel and reveal our true selves, our buddha nature, to understand ourself and how the mind works. 📿
It’s the last day of a very eventful January, and I am spending it curled up on our big sleeping couch with our newborn baby boy who is about 2 weeks old now, in his little baby nest and my partner who is sitting on the other end writing away on the computer. Outside, it’s already dark again. Polar night is officially over here but I have not seen the Sun yet. I am not outside so much, hardly at all as all time and energy is spent adjusting and taking care of this new amazing creation. I did however manage our first little walk with the pram!
Life is new and different and surreal as parents. Giving birth was intense and hard work, and unfortunately not how I envisioned, but nontheless a very powerful experience. A rite of passage of sorts.. At one point during delivery I felt like I connected with all other Mothers giving birth naturally, experiencing the same pain at the exact same time. When he was born, there was an incredible silence and love that I have not experienced before 🤱🏻
January is also my birthday month, and this year I celebrated at home with my little family and my friend Katharina. 29; last year in my twenties, first year as a mama! 🎉✨
“No sløkkes en dag som så vidt rakk å gråne og vise fram landet ei skjømmingsblå stund og gjømt attom fjellan i aust står en måne som snart skal strø sølv over fjorda og sund. I sør ligg ei strime av lys over tindan der dagen blør ut før han slokne førr godt og vi står igjen med oss sjøl og med minnan i mørketidslyset der allting blir blått.
Så kom og vær nær meg – vær sol i desember når midtvinterstanka tar rom i mitt sinn førr året må føle sin kurs og kalender og stian blir tungtrødd når lyset førsvinn. Men hold meg i handa og lær meg å vente på solkvervingstimen då allting skal snu. I mørketidslyset e varme å hente førr den som har mot tel å trosse og tru.
Ja, streif mine strenga og løys i meg tonen tel landet som kvile ved midtvinterstid la mørketids-tankan og haust-depresjonen få vike førr strofe av blå poesi. Vi leve med rest av en sommar i minne i lengting mot daga vi ikkje har fått men kjem du meg nær skal vi solvarmen finne i mørketidslyset der allting blir blått.” – Helge Stangnes 💙💛🧡
Senja island. The pointy peak is Segla. Hiked it once, amazing view. Apologies for grainy mobile shot, it doesn’t do it justice.I love driving. One of my happy places, for sure.
“Away, away,—to the mountains away, Where the pine trees murmur and sway, And the foamy waterfalls sing and spring Over the boulders gray.
Hills— Blue and green hills, near and far, The farther they lie, the better they are. The near ones I can climb and see But the beautiful far ones call to me”
Come see my little exhibition of 13 paintings at Magic Ice Tromsø ❄ Most paintings are for sale 🙏🏻 They also have the cosiest tiny coffee place there, an impressive ice sculpture gallery by Lithuanian artists and a cocktail bar – all ice, even the glasses ☃️🥂🌌
Fant meg en fin plass i fjæra til å meditere samt se på fargespillet på himmelen som alltid skjer nært mørketida.Alle bildene er tatt med mobilen, så beklager kvaliteten 🙈Frost 🍂Pastellhimmel.Regnbuefarger.Kaldere vær betyr store jakker og ullsjal ❤ Er ikke så mange jakker som passer over magen lenger 😄🤰 Månedene flyr forbi, er allerede i siste trimester 💜🌌
Traditional headdress by me, shawl hand-me-down. Photo by Sebastian Wilches 2020.
Some things I truly believe are yours to keep, that no one can take from you:
Your spiritual practice. In my case, it is vajrayana buddhism. It has saved my life in many ways – both in dealing with chronic illness, but also the normal existential stuff like finding purpose and joy 🙂🙏🏼📿
Your ambitions and dreams (if they come from a place of pure motivation and love). In my case now, it has been starting a little family with children 💜🤱
Your ethnicity and ancestry, no matter how lost or scattered it is in this modern world. In my case from my personal experience, I feel very connected to my home in the Arctic and being uralic/finno-ugric. I didn’t as a kid and teenager, at all, but now as I am older, I feel like I can “own” it more. I don’t speak any of the uralic languages, and feel a sadness about this. A disconnection from my own culture. And a feeling of not belonging to a community, when they can’t speak to me. I hope my son will not feel as disconnected. But I have found other ways to express this – primarily through art and duodji. Not all languages are of verbal nature, but are equally important, I think. 🎨
Your creativity. Not necessarily arts, but anything you find a solution to that involves stepping out of the habitual intellectual mind and into a state of spontaneity and flow.🌊
Your struggles. This sounds negative, but for me I mean that my struggles are valid. I have a body that has its big share of physical problems, and I don’t mean to whine. At all! 🙂 Just to express that this is my reality, and that chronic (perhaps invisible to others) illness can happen to anyone, any time in life.💙
Your love. This one sounds cheesy but I think we all can feel love and that we have love as a basic human need. To receive it and give it. And we all have different ways of showing it. I like giving gifts for example.. but am not so good verbally expressing how I feel. I like receiving kind loving deeds, but not to be smothered. So understanding how we show it differently is important too. I also believe that as humans we have the capacity to love many at the same time. Whether it is friends or partners, plural. Romantic, familial or platonic.❤
Lowcarb chocolate muffins (from one of those easy to make packages) 😋🙌🏼 Also, look at the beautiful Latvian cup coasters of traditional woven belts 😁 they make me smile. And remind me to maybe do some more weaving myself 🤷🏻♀️
Hadde en helt plutselig solfylt høstdag for cirka en uke siden. Våkna opp uten migrene i tillegg! Så da ble det en gåtur i finværet. Tok noen bilder med mobilen. Tror det var nærmere 20°c den dagen, det er jo tropisk her nord 😁🙏🏼
Sommeren er på hell, og jeg ser tilbake på en begivenhetsrik sommer, til tross for at jeg har vært mest hjemme. Vært heldig med været i juli, nå er det august og kveldene er mørke igjen, midnattssola er borte og det er på tide på finne frem stearinlysene.
Another round piece.. 35 cm Ø Details.. I love using dark purple, it really brings some life to it 💜Some sort of yellow fantasy flowers 🌾In process..
Happy to be back to painting since rearranging the flat. It’s been a mess for months, but now it’s starting to look and feel much better and I got my work/painting/crafts station back!🙌🏻🎨🌼
Ramma inn dette bladet jeg malte for litt siden 🍁🎨Plantene mine ☺Kunst.Gjorde en giveaway i påska, her er det lille maleriet mitt (til høyre) i sitt nye hjem ☺ Fikk en fin håndlagd gave!✨Dagboka mi 🦄 Elsker å skrive og føler det hjelper mye å få ting ned på papir. Også er det er pluss om den er søt.
Me and my little racer car, Laura.Grøtfjord beach.
Just updated my domain and header. All in all, still the same blog with same content; art, photography, occasional personal thoughts and ideas, adventures, health related stuff and maybe some tantra/dharma. The name Ask the mountains comes from my favourite song by greek artist Vangelis and swedish singer Stina Nordenstam.
Hair dresser. Norwegian and sámi road signs.People sitting at Solid café.Bastard bar and Huken pub.Taxidermy wolf with the cathedral in the reflection.Shop window.Sticker in window for a sámi publishing company.The candy shopRunning girls statue by Italian artist.Hampen.Melting snow.Skansen.“One day everyone will die, every other day we will not.”New restaurant by the bridge. All the dry shampoo.UtepilsRakettkiosken.“Alt blir bra” – “Everything will be okay”.
Whatever your struggles are, whether you share them with others, online or in private, or keep it all to yourself, know that healing, aliveness and beauty can always, always be found, as it is already in you and in nature around us 🧡🌅
Low tide by Løkta. Seagul eating a starfish. Seagul and the starfish.Biker in the evening sun.Kråkebolle. Don’t know the English name! Boat coming in.“What now?” Girl from Vadsø enjoying the sunset 🌅These guys were eating all the kråkerboller.Kebabmåsen and the cathedral.
The sun returning in January in Bukta on Tromsø islandPeople greeting the sunWas in Tamokdalen to help with a photo project. Beautiful crispy dayI made my first sámi silk shawl, in gorgeous yellow/goldAnd a pair of ankle wraps. Hand vowen…Kali liked them too!Met the cutest puppy! Look at that face…🧡Frozen raindrops outside my windowMy best friend got married in Brooklyn. Unreal and beautiful. First time in the US for me ☺Heidrun and me. Prettiest bride 🌻Me in my handmade coast kofte. What a day 💚💛❤In Central ParkTime’s squareMe being a total tourist ✌Time’s Square again. It was colourful and overwhelming 🙃🌈New York subwayKvaløya, beautiful as always Whale watching.. the sky was so pink that dayOrcasTrain ride in OsloLittle cloudAmrita Baba and me on retreat 🧘♀️ New Years eve 2018/2019WalesMy lovely friend and sangha sister, Elizabeth from Louisiana. We were in Birmingham Retreat girlsIce skating on this lake that made the coolest soundsKvaløyaKvaløya, cold day on the beach. Around 15°cMidnight sun 🌅 Håja mountain Did a giveaway on my facebook art page with this painting, got so good feedback, made me happy 🙂Made more of these small cute paintingsSpain. I got very tan 🙃💛Was two days in France. Didn’t get too explore too much because of time, money and energy, but saw this lovely garden in ToulouseAnd met Blueberry the donkey!Tromsø catethedralAutumn was very pretty, as usual 🍁Paviljongen in TromsøAutumn day in Tromsø LokeAnti racism event at the town square, as a response to recent violence against indigenous peopleMy favourite painting from this year. Inspired by the Arctic polar nightWent to quite a lot of museums and exhibitions this yearFound this cool and weird coat on flea marketWas butt naked in a commercial 😅Made an X-files painting for a friend 🛸
I have sooo many more pictures from this year, but some of them I feel are nice to keep private 😊💛
🧡🧡🧡Med på tur i skogen.Helmut var ufyselig søt som kattunge😄
Fikk lyst å dele noen bilder av den fineste monsen jeg noensinne har bodd med. Snakk om go’gutt med personlighet. Var så heldig å ha han i tre år før han dessverre ble påkjørt. Stort savn.
Reading: Nothing actually.. I loaned a bunch of book at the library, but I think maybe borrowing/buying books is an entirely different hobby than actually reading them!
Watching: Random nature documentaries mostly..:)
Listening to on Audible: A wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (got it recommended by a friend on Facebook)
Drinking every day: Coffee. And more coffee 😀 (should drink more water..)
Happy about: Made new friends lately, and also understanding my own “language” better, how I think and relate to the world around me.
Not so happy about: Being in constant physical pain, so much that I cannot function properly. And I struggle expressing how bad it actually is, because it doesn’t show from the outside. My back, neck, face and head is so painful, that painkillers aren’t working anymore, and I am at a loss what to do.
Thankful for: People who love me. Cliché but true 🙂
“Sometimes she moves like rivers, sometimes like trees; Or tranced and fixed like South Pole silences; Sometimes she is beauty, sometimes fury, sometimes neither.”
Go towards the people that see you for who you truly are, in all your colours. For your badass kindness and fierce compassion. How we treat others reaches far beyond outer beauty and appearances; touching someone elses’ heart and helping them feel free and loved unconditionally is a gift that will never stop giving.
Ask The Mountains 