Postcard from Finland. Water has run through everything I've done, thought, or read this week. Here, I'll try to pull some of those streams together. I'm leaning heavily and gratefully on links and quotes this week, as I'm supposed to be on vacation!
Thank you so much for sharing Priscilla's and others' work, John! So important to understand what structures (physical but also legal and cultural) make these disasters so awful.
Congratulations to your wife! Wow, though, very sorry about the other swimmer, though. That sounds awful.
Countries like Philippines feel the impacts of climate change because of its location and geography. It is hard to ignore the impacts there and it is quite difficult to explain such for those not as aware and living in the mainland USA.
Thank you for drawing these streams of thought together John. As an islander and fellow water obsessive I'm delighted to discover your Substack. Greetings across the sea from Orkney!
This is such an important body of work John! The interconnectedness of nature is mysterious. Everything is related from land theft to climate change, from water circuits to wildfires. Thank you for bringing in the insights together in such a brisk and cohesive read! And also for referencing the wonderful writers and their important contributions to the ongoing of this conversation.
I for one did not know that Finland’s carbon emission is the fifth largest! That is insane but I have faith that the neutrality will be achieved sooner rather than later. Finland has always proved itself.
It is heartbreaking to learn about the passing of the swimmer, must have been horrible to witness such a thing! Sports people are the best, what a tragedy! But congratulations to you and your wife for her achievement.
Thank you so much, Swarna. I love connecting things, ideas, and people!
Finland is a fascinating country in so many ways. We hold up Finland now as a beacon of tolerance, equality, and modernity. It's listed as the happiest country in the world, which Finns attribute to being satisfied with having enough. But it hasn't always been that way. There is a deep collective pain body here. There were a thousand years of being part of either the Swedish or Russian empire. Independence in 1917 was followed by a brutal civil war. Almost half a million refugees came from Karelia after it was ceded to Russia at the end of the Second world war. And more recently, a truth and reconciliation commission has looked at the forced assimilation of the nomadic Sami people.
Even here are shards of broken shackles.
Thank you for your kind words about the Ironman. There were competitors from 155 countries and territories, including some from India!
I was always so fascinated with Finland , such a mysterious and beautiful country and everything there seems so peaceful. Who would have guessed that even a happy country like yours has such dark history full of bloody wars and painful assimilation. I stand with Finnish people in solidarity and recognition of their past and a massive support for their optimism and strength to overcome them and be where they are today. Deep respect and love from another part of world for your beautiful land and its people. I’m happy to know that in spirit of sportsmanship we stand united as a global community. 💜🌼
I should explain. We are in Finland at the moment - for the Ironman, and then some vacation - but Finland is not our country. I am actually English. I lived there for 29 years, Holland for 6, and the USA since 1985. I am a dual UK and American citizen. My wife is American.
My last name is from a small area in Scotland. Those ancestors were crofters. Following the highland clearances, they had to leave, many to the cities or to England. Some went to Australia, the USA, Canada, where they who had been dispossessed in turn dispossessed the aborigines, native Americans, and First Nations. Suffering begat suffering.
If you do the math, you will see that I was born just a few years after India's independence. It was a post-colonial Britain, a reality that many there still refuse to accept, and that refusal continues to cause great suffering.
I am drawn to understand how societies work through suffering. In Helsinki we found a French coffee shop. The young man who worked there was Finnish, but born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, to parents in foreign service. He suggested places to visit and introduced us to some history. He explained that the happiness, peacefulness, calmness, introversion, and humility of the Finns is a consequence of their shared trauma and suffering.
Likewise Holland, a former colonial power in Indonesia, suffered German occupation in the second world war. One of my favorite writers there, the late Harry Mulisch, was born to a german father and a jewish mother. By collaborating with the Nazis, his father was able to keep his mother safe.
Next week we are going to England for a few days for the first time in five years. I will be writing about that!
Thank you for reading, and for the conversation. 🙏
Wow John, your experience of the world is myriad and your perspective as wise. Highlanders are some of the best people I have known, I have loved Scotland too in many childhood stories 💜
What you said about suffering begat suffering is profound and necessary to understand. Pain ensues pain. This is why healing is necessary- to be able to recognise our own pain in order to stop inflicting it upon another. I deeply appreciate your kind words and recognition of colonialism- a simple fact that is so difficult to admit that many live in denial.
Your work is inspiring and I respect the fact that you took time to learn the story of the Finnish lad, sometimes all we can give others who want their stories to be known is a our time, patience, and empathy.
I have read a few stories about Nazi German occupation of Holland, maybe Harry Mulisch is a writer in whose work I should deep dive into. Thank you for sharing this with me.
I hope you have a safe trip to England. Shall wait to hear from you more about all these nuanced intersections of history and culture.
Thank you so much for sharing Priscilla's and others' work, John! So important to understand what structures (physical but also legal and cultural) make these disasters so awful.
Congratulations to your wife! Wow, though, very sorry about the other swimmer, though. That sounds awful.
Countries like Philippines feel the impacts of climate change because of its location and geography. It is hard to ignore the impacts there and it is quite difficult to explain such for those not as aware and living in the mainland USA.
Yes, heat and humidity, sea level rise, and water stress.
Finland seems to be behind their close neighbors in the Nordics in terms of their energy source but I am hopeful that they have a plan.
Fortunately a small population and a low population density.
No wonder Greta is feisty about it.
Thank you for drawing these streams of thought together John. As an islander and fellow water obsessive I'm delighted to discover your Substack. Greetings across the sea from Orkney!
Greetings back from my temporary island in the Turku Archipelago. Returning to my home island next week.
This is such an important body of work John! The interconnectedness of nature is mysterious. Everything is related from land theft to climate change, from water circuits to wildfires. Thank you for bringing in the insights together in such a brisk and cohesive read! And also for referencing the wonderful writers and their important contributions to the ongoing of this conversation.
I for one did not know that Finland’s carbon emission is the fifth largest! That is insane but I have faith that the neutrality will be achieved sooner rather than later. Finland has always proved itself.
It is heartbreaking to learn about the passing of the swimmer, must have been horrible to witness such a thing! Sports people are the best, what a tragedy! But congratulations to you and your wife for her achievement.
Thank you so much, Swarna. I love connecting things, ideas, and people!
Finland is a fascinating country in so many ways. We hold up Finland now as a beacon of tolerance, equality, and modernity. It's listed as the happiest country in the world, which Finns attribute to being satisfied with having enough. But it hasn't always been that way. There is a deep collective pain body here. There were a thousand years of being part of either the Swedish or Russian empire. Independence in 1917 was followed by a brutal civil war. Almost half a million refugees came from Karelia after it was ceded to Russia at the end of the Second world war. And more recently, a truth and reconciliation commission has looked at the forced assimilation of the nomadic Sami people.
Even here are shards of broken shackles.
Thank you for your kind words about the Ironman. There were competitors from 155 countries and territories, including some from India!
I was always so fascinated with Finland , such a mysterious and beautiful country and everything there seems so peaceful. Who would have guessed that even a happy country like yours has such dark history full of bloody wars and painful assimilation. I stand with Finnish people in solidarity and recognition of their past and a massive support for their optimism and strength to overcome them and be where they are today. Deep respect and love from another part of world for your beautiful land and its people. I’m happy to know that in spirit of sportsmanship we stand united as a global community. 💜🌼
I should explain. We are in Finland at the moment - for the Ironman, and then some vacation - but Finland is not our country. I am actually English. I lived there for 29 years, Holland for 6, and the USA since 1985. I am a dual UK and American citizen. My wife is American.
My last name is from a small area in Scotland. Those ancestors were crofters. Following the highland clearances, they had to leave, many to the cities or to England. Some went to Australia, the USA, Canada, where they who had been dispossessed in turn dispossessed the aborigines, native Americans, and First Nations. Suffering begat suffering.
If you do the math, you will see that I was born just a few years after India's independence. It was a post-colonial Britain, a reality that many there still refuse to accept, and that refusal continues to cause great suffering.
I am drawn to understand how societies work through suffering. In Helsinki we found a French coffee shop. The young man who worked there was Finnish, but born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, to parents in foreign service. He suggested places to visit and introduced us to some history. He explained that the happiness, peacefulness, calmness, introversion, and humility of the Finns is a consequence of their shared trauma and suffering.
Likewise Holland, a former colonial power in Indonesia, suffered German occupation in the second world war. One of my favorite writers there, the late Harry Mulisch, was born to a german father and a jewish mother. By collaborating with the Nazis, his father was able to keep his mother safe.
Next week we are going to England for a few days for the first time in five years. I will be writing about that!
Thank you for reading, and for the conversation. 🙏
Wow John, your experience of the world is myriad and your perspective as wise. Highlanders are some of the best people I have known, I have loved Scotland too in many childhood stories 💜
What you said about suffering begat suffering is profound and necessary to understand. Pain ensues pain. This is why healing is necessary- to be able to recognise our own pain in order to stop inflicting it upon another. I deeply appreciate your kind words and recognition of colonialism- a simple fact that is so difficult to admit that many live in denial.
Your work is inspiring and I respect the fact that you took time to learn the story of the Finnish lad, sometimes all we can give others who want their stories to be known is a our time, patience, and empathy.
I have read a few stories about Nazi German occupation of Holland, maybe Harry Mulisch is a writer in whose work I should deep dive into. Thank you for sharing this with me.
I hope you have a safe trip to England. Shall wait to hear from you more about all these nuanced intersections of history and culture.
Thank you Ross!
Thank you Ross!