Apples of Gold

Allow

There was a time when I believed life moved in straight lines. If I made careful plans, if I worked hard enough, if I loved well enough, things would unfold as expected. I thought certainty was something you earned. But life, it turns out, has never been interested in our neat expectations. It bends. It…

Stay, I Pray You

Last night I saw a musical that quietly undid me. It exceeded every expectation I carried in with me. Anastasia was exquisite — moving, tender, and deeply human. One song in particular stayed with me long after the curtain fell. “How can I desert you?”At eleven years old, I didn’t have the words for this…

Between Breaths

New Year’s Eve is the night when time asks us to look back. Not with nostalgia, but with honesty. It is not a celebration so much as a reckoning — an inventory of moments that never asked to be remembered but stayed anyway. The conversations that altered us. The silences that taught us more than…

Quiet Reflection

When I was younger, the days between Christmas and New Year felt almost sacred. A quiet pause in the calendar where I would reflect on what had been and carefully map out what was to come. Lists were written, intentions set, dreams neatly arranged as though life itself might follow my handwriting. I still return…

Forever in My Heart

On your day of independence, my beautiful Finland,my heart turns to you with both pride and sorrow. What a tremendous price has been paid for your freedom.Your independence did not arrive wrapped in celebration—it was carved out of hardship, sacrifice, and the courageof those who had so little, yet gave everything. I think of my…

In the Stillness

There are nights when exhaustion settles into my bones, yet sleep refuses to come. And it always seems to happen at the most inconvenient times — like now, when Christmas is just around the corner. A season that sparkles once a year, bringing light, joy, and that familiar warmth I usually cherish. But life doesn’t…

The Beauty of Advent

There is a unique beauty in Advent, a quietness that settles over the heart like soft morning light. It is a season that invites us to slow down, and to make room again for hope. While the world around us begins to rush, Advent whispers a different rhythm — one of waiting, watching, and listening….

Raindrops Keep Falling

In Finland, we have a word for resilience — sisu. It means the kind of grit that carries you through when willpower alone isn’t enough. I like to think I have a fair bit of it, but yesterday morning, as I woke to the sound of rain tapping against the windows, I began to wonder….

Nordic Living

I’m sitting here with a mug of tea in hand, simply contemplating life. The steam curls upward, carrying with it a quiet reminder that even the smallest rituals can anchor us. Today was a day off, and though I haven’t done anything particularly noteworthy, I’ve been reminding myself that sometimes the most productive thing we…

The Silent Clock

Where do the years go? They slip past so quickly, and yet, when I close my eyes, I feel them near — close enough to touch, close enough to step back into. I still hear the tick-tock of my grandparents’ clock, steady and sure, marking time that I never thought would run out. I still…