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Understanding
Freely translated, the philosopher Kirkegaard wrote “If I want to succeed in leading a person towards a definite goal, I must first find her where she is and start right there”. He probably meant that willingness, curiosity, and empathy are required to truly understand someone else. *** Now it’s dark and rainy in Stockholm, so it’s nice to think about the summer days that were, and the warm summer nights. ***
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Misleading targeting
For many years, the path to success and happiness has been considered to be setting goals to work towards. It’s a pleasant thought that may seem simple, obvious and straightforward. Success may have been the original idea of goal setting, but I think it has been misplaced and distorted for many different reasons. Success in a business context is efficiency and profit. In order to know whether the goals are being achieved, production measures are needed that can be evaluated. The production industry has developed a complete system for performance measurement. Nothing wrong with that, but when you apply the same system to public administration, to education or to health…
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An excursion to Björnö
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Quality in life
You do not know what quality is until you have it. Quality is a feeling, an experience that is individual and difficult to describe. Quality is also a buzzword in the service sector, and in product manufacturing where it refers to the intrinsic value of a material product, a business, a cultural work, or a person or a group. It is often assumed that quality can be measured, preferably in relation to a predetermined goal. Quality becomes a measure of goal fulfillment. But, how can you set a goal for quality when you do not know what it is until you have it, and if it is an individual experience,…
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A Sunday adventure
Sometimes it’s wonderful to just enjoy the experience and the nice company. Not to think too much, not to solve all kinds of world problems, or to be intelligent and funny. Sunday was such a day.
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Forethought vs pessimism
I experience a general lack of forethought. In most cases, it actually is best to think before, to be thoughtful. In the world today, from small to large, you really see the consequences of quick decisions and lack of foresight! I do not know if the word “forethought” is used in English but it appears in Google Translate when I write the Swedish word “förtänksamhet”. The Swedish word is included in the Swedish Academy’s Dictionary and means thoughtful, deliberative, considerate or prudent. Simply someone who gives a thought on what might happen in the future, and in time adapts their actions accordingly. Modern people who lack the ability to be…
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Love and passion
I have discovered that I need to feel passion to have enough drive. I have a passion for my job and it has become far too important in my self-realization. I have the drive for much else, but when it comes to meeting a dear and really close friend to feel love for, my drive has gradually diminished by the failed attempts. This is a problem I do not want to accept. I’m not giving up. I am learning and have the courage to keep trying. So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately and found that I need to feel a sense of trust and closeness. It is not very…
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Quantum satis
There is a concept that is said to only exist in Swedish. The term indicates a satisfactory amount adapted for its purpose, neither too much that destroys nor too little that is not enough to achieve the desired result. I think it is called “quantum satis” in Latin, in Swedish it is called “lagom”. The English translation could be “just right” or “adequate” but the meaning is not quite the same. Anyway, in love relationships, I’m way too kind and compliant. I have a lot of psychological explanations for this but they are not very helpful, and I’m not getting better at being “just right kind enough”. Of course, it…
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Basically good!
This summer I actually read a really thick book! I rarely indulge in reading novels or a thicker book that cannot be read in one go. I have learned that I am worthy of being liked only when I perform or am obedient and compliant. To “just” read and to devote myself to me is frightening! On the other hand, I love to learn and to understand and there is a lot of wisdom written in books. The book I have read is not really a novel but can probably be classified as a manual in humanity. It assumes that man is good and describes it in a convincing way.…
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Roses of love!
Roses, the flower of love, are perhaps the most popular in the world, and have a given place in my little rowhouse garden. Roses are not only beautiful and fragrant but are surrounded by both romance and mystery. According to Greek mythology, the rose was created by Adonis’ love for Aphrodite, and at his death he is said to have turned into a red rose. The red rose is therefore associated with erotic love. The best location for roses is sunny, and a healthy soil is the prerequisite for viable roses. If you give your roses love, you get love back. Roses are very beautiful on their bush but also…
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To do, or not to do it, yourself!
I came up with the idea to renovate the kitchen in my little townhouse. It did not come suddenly, I have planned it for the twelve years I have lived here. It has felt like a big project, but now it was time. I wanted to treat myself to it. It would be done thoroughly, a complete renovation, floors, ceilings, walls, cabinets and appliances. And I would do almost everything myself. I chose a kitchen from IKEA. It felt best for a self-made carpenter. It is actually not difficult to assemble an IKEA kitchen. All that is needed is foresight and careful planning. A kitchen planner helped with ordering and…
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Challenged to post 10 travel photos!
I also live on Facebook! There, my sister challenged me to post 10 travel photos without comments. Of course, I cannot say no, what would it look like, she is my little sister! Such luck that I then have this blog. Here I can publish which pictures I want and comment on them as much as I want. This post’s headline image is from a trip I made to Hälsingland, to a very dear friend’s cozy summer cottage by a small lake. It was a wonderful trip! The picture above is taken by Tore Huseby. I’m riding a motorcycle on gravel roads on the Algarve coast in Portugal. A wonderfully…
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A healthy walk in a palace environment
My grandmother’s health advice was; eat well, sleep well, and go out and exercise! Grandma was very wise and there is a lot in her advice. If you add to her wisdom the very Swedish expression that “lagom är bäst” (everything in moderation), you avoid extreme training, extreme eating and sleeping away all your life! Outdoor walks can be just the right amount of exercise, but where should you go when you are tired of the nearest neighborhood and boring trees in the forest? Just west of Stockholm, in Drottningholm, the King and Queen of Sweden live in a beautiful 17th century palace. Large parts of the palace park are…
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A beautiful day with longing
Of course, it is possible to long for the future but at the same time be present and experience the day. Today was a delightful winter day with snow, sun and clear, cold air. It was great to be outdoors! Down on the boatyard among all the winter-resting boats, the longing for spring grew in me. When I get to make my boat ready and nice for a new season in the Stockholm archipelago. It is nice to both long for spring and to enjoy the winter. It’s nice to feel the longing!
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A short city walk
A significant advantage of living near Stockholm, apart from the fact that my loved ones and the job are here, is that when I have had enough of forest and nature, the city is close. The walk yesterday was in the Old Town, Stockholm’s ancient city center dating back to the 13th century, and consisting of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture. We had a coffee with snacks on the main square, outdoors completely according to the public health authority’s recommendations during the ongoing pandemic. It was a bit cold and rough so the walk was of the shorter kind and no proper photo walk, but still! 🙂
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With hope for the future!
Very soon, the year 2020 will end. In many ways, it has been a terrible year. In Sweden, it turns out that new public management and the just-in-time economy have made us very vulnerable to a plague like the Corona pandemic. Hopefully we will learn something from the ordeal that the Covid-19 virus entails. In any case, we did not want to listen to the warnings and we should have understood better. With joint efforts, we will pass this torment as well. But the year has not only been miserable. Just before the year started, I fell very much in love even though I had actually given up the opportunity…
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Santa Claus is coming to town!
The tradition of sending Christmas cards started in Britain in the 1840s. The practice of sending Christmas greetings on colored postcards soon spread both to the United States and via Germany and Denmark to Sweden. In Sweden, it became popular to send Christmas cards at the end of the 19th century and the tradition is still very popular. With her very popular Christmas card motifs, the artist Jenny Nyström gave us the image of the Swedish Santa Claus, Christmas presents and a Christmas tree (jultomten, julklappar och julgranen). My sons and I have a tradition of creating our own Christmas card, perhaps a little less traditional or at least with a…
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Preparations for Jul
Christmas is called “Jul” in the Nordic languages, or “Jól” in Icelandic. The word comes from the ancient Germanic word “jehwla” which is also linked to the Finnish “joulu”. Jul was celebrated as a holiday in Old Norse religion and the Germanic world long before Christianity. In the Nordic countries, the Christian Christmas was named after the pre-Christian holiday. In Sweden, the holiday “Lucia” together with Advent marks the beginning of the Christmas celebration. Lucia is celebrated on December 13. Lucia is a saint in the Christian tradition originating in Sicily. The Swedish Lucia is a mixture of both pre-Christian and Christian figures and this tradition has spread to other…
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Eventually it gets brighter!
It always does, gets brighter, when it is dark. Right now there are many reasons to see everything in black. Among them the pandemic and the lack of respect for democracy here and there in the world. I choose to believe in the good of humanity and that it will become brighter in time. Up here in the northern hemisphere, the days are short now. Last weekend the sun shone for a while, enough for a walk along Edsviken to Ulriksdal Castle. We have not yet received snow. It is dark most of the day. But today is the first Sunday in Advent and we turn on the winter lights…
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An excursion to Björnö
The Björnö (bear island) nature reserve is located at the far end of the Ingarö island in the Värmdö municipality southeast of Stockholm. Here you can walk in typical archipelago nature with an open agricultural landscape interspersed in valleys between forests and cliffs. The area, which is located on a peninsula, is easily accessible even without a boat. Björnö is managed by the Archipelago Foundation and has been protected since 1983. Here you will find living agricultural land, pine forest, spruce forest, pine bogs, deciduous swamps and deciduous forest. There are several bathing sites and meadows with the possibility of camping. At Småängsuddarna there is a lookout tower with a…
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Misleading targeting
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The beauty of insights
There are indeed many wise and kind people on the Internet who share their wisdom. It’s just a matter of finding them in all the information noise and among all the loudmouths. Like when I felt abandoned and unsuccessful because I could not find love but found a wisdom that a friend posted (1). * * * It’s not about finding someone to live with, but finding the one you do not want to live without! * * * Many before me have probably understood this. To me, that wisdom made all the difference anyway. It gave me the insight I needed. Today a friend wrote about the meaning of life in her blog…
