at a loss
After the attacks in Oslo and Utøya it's been hard to think of something (anything!) to say. The trials, tribulations and small victories in my life and workplace hardly seem to count for much when people's lives can so brutally be ripped apart, just like that. I will leave the actual political analysis to other for now, though, as the ruins are still smoking - it's still too fresh in everyone's mind. This week has seen one of the quietest Mondays in my memory.
If anything good came out of this, it kind of shook me into appreciating life's urgency. It's being here now doing just this what counts. Knowing why you're here and where you want to go are important, too, but sometimes right here right now is everything that counts. Running a business, one has to be able to plan ahead, at least on paper, for five or even ten years, with intent on making those plans reality. That can sometimes seriously skew my perception of the here and now and make me forget that I am and have to be alive now. What will happen in five years will happen, and there is a chance that whatever will happen will actually be better if I just take a few moments to appreciate where I am now and how nice it is here every day.
It has been like that this summer - I worry about the future so much that I forget how much I enjoy benchwork, the whole coming up with problems and getting to solutions process, whether it is for a repair or implementing a new design, even just the fact that I was able to solder a broken hinge back together without having the solder run into the rivet and making the structure rigid. Hey, I never knew I could do that - consider this one personal boundary pushed.
So one day later this week I sat down with only the vaguest idea of what I wanted to do, waving away a million more pressing matters that demanded my attention, and did something just for the hell of it. It (a ring with only a slightly smaller decorative gold ring) turned out to be both gorgeous and a bit revolting, as is my preference, and was soon followed by more variations on the theme. I've spent a few working days altogether working on them, and it feels good to do something NOT for a direct pay-off. There may be an indirect pay-off later, but that has yet to transpire - the árbi2 collection reminds me again of what is really important to me, what keeps me interested, and what should really be the goal when I arrange my affairs. Just playing around, trying out an idea, and making it work.
I wanted to use gold instead of the more traditional gilt silver because the spirit of the time and the place in which this collection is born is all about what is good, real and important, through and through. Let the golden rings remind us all of the important things, however small they may be, and be a roadmap of sorts. My bench may not
change the world at large, but it can shape worlds on a more personal scale, and it continues to enrich my world and life greatly.
I'm now a little more than two weeks shy of my 26th birthday, and the nights are getting darker even in Varangerbotn. This is my favourite time of the year, and I look forward to going back to Finland and maybe visiting the south - I miss the dark summer nights. Times of transition, like now from summer to autumn, always inspire me. Soon it will also be a full year since I landed in Inari wanting to work on and in my business full time at last. It sure has been interesting so far, and only time will tell what's next.
This concludes my guest-blogging month at Miessi, and it's been very interesting - also hard, because I haven't written on demand in almost ten years, but rewarding - I may continue this in my own blog later this year. Thank you for having me, and I hope whoever has been reading these entries will find something that provokes a thought or
otherwise resonates. If you wish to keep following my activities and the odd daily thought, you can find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/neetainari) or Twitter (twitter.com/neetainari) - drop by and say hi if the fancy takes you!
Signing off,
Neeta
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| Design Neeta Jääskö |
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| Design Neeta Jääskö |
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