A Winter in Lapland
Lapland, Finland, Jan 2022 - Mar 2022
Rovaniemi, where Kemijoki (joki: "river" in Finnish) and Ounasjoki that flow through Lapland meet and form into one, was where I lived alone, met and inspired by warm-hearted people in the Arctic Centre, explored the landscape and myself, and reflected upon life and nature. No other place demonstrates better about the calming and inspirational power of nature than the far north.
I did late night hikes in the woods of Ounasvaara and had honest conversations with myself and captured as many inspirations, whispers, and guidance that nature gave to me as possible. I went to Pyhä-Luosto National Park and was amazed by the frozen forests that I saw.
I biked in the snow every day, usually following where my heart takes me –– along several rivers and lakes, in spread-out neighborhoods, up and down the hills, chasing northern lights, and across the Arctic Circle and back.
Sometimes I accidentally bike too far away, but I enjoyed the excitement and the unknown brought by "going astray."
The three months of alone time in the far north, in a place of my dreams, was surreal, magical, calming, character-building, and life-changing. Standing alone in silent forests at almost midnight, when you were the only person in the whole mountain, gets rid of all the noise you will probably hear in crowded towns, and that's when life's whispers and nature's messages are the most loud and clear. Time seemed to have stopped, and everything becomes trivial in the vastness of nature. I still live to the messages I heard back then from nature and myself.
The far north truly inspires.
Acknowledgement: my time abroad at the Arctic Centre in Finland was supported by Dartmouth College through the Stefansson Fellowship.