Doodle Notes

Life has been trying to teach me some lessons in these past years and I think that with this doodle story, I might have captured one of them...

A few years ago, my life got really hard. It was due to several blows at a time, too much for me to bear. Today, I’m happy to report that I feel like I’ve had enough time to heal and recuperate and everyone involved is doing great now.

Taking a few steps back, I have been wondering what happened and what was it that made me feel better.

Here’s what I came up with. If you are going through a rough patch in your life right now, know that I’m there with you! It sucks! And it too shall pass.

You might know the feeling when your life starts to feel like you've been thrown overboard and you keep trying your best not to drown. Flailing and failing. And there's no shore in sight.

Occasionally, you get to spend some time on a life draft. Oh wow, how much ease it brings to the constant survival game that your life has become...

Until you’re back again in the deep waters of your everyday chaos...

And this pattern feels like it’s on repeat:

You get a moment of rest and then take a plunge again.

But, little by little, you’re able choose to spend more and more time on the life draft.

And then one day...

There’s the shore!

Life has finally gotten easier.

What’s surprising though, is how long it can take to reach the shore even when it’s in clear sight. It feels like it’s close, you can almost smell and taste it, but the tide keeps pulling you back to the sea.

Before long, you WILL have your feet on the sturdy ground again.

(It still might feel a bit wobbly for a while after such a long time spent at sea).

I bet that the lesson is to learn how to float.

The more you fight life, the more exhausting it gets.

The life draft, for me, represents time spent listening to my heart, following my joy, and getting a dopamine hit from what I do.

What brought this story in my mind, was my continued wondering and pondering about WHY have I been studying Japanese passionately for these past three years.

My only reason so far was that I’ve just WANTED to.

But when I now took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, I realized that those classes were my life draft. They always offered a clear structure for my life, well-designed-fully-in-my-control kind of path during that turbulent time where so many other things fell out of my control.

It helped me to listen to my heart’s yearning, but it also kept my ego calm with all the routine and structure that studying brought into my life.

Now, I’m happy to say that I can see the shore. It’s so close that I can already imagine standing on it and taking a stroll.

However, I’m not yet sure where exactly life has now brought me. This shore seems similar to the one I left from, but in many parts it already feels completely different.

I'm excited to explore!

Maybe even in Japanese!

What makes you relax when life gets hard?

My Inspiration & Delight

Yesterday we celebrated Mother’s Day for the first time with having my kids all grown up. This flower (Anemone nemorosa) is the one that kids bring their mothers on Mother’s Day and it beautifully now covers the forest floor here in southern Finland.

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all mothers!