Being a parent is the toughest job/assignment ever. Now with adult/semi-adult children it is not the sleepless nights I’m thinking about (that’s perimenopause) and it’s not the agonizing conversations explaining the most fundamental logic things to the “not the sharpest tool in the shed” teenager. No, for me the absolute toughest part of being a…
I love it
A while back I “promoted” Dad Haromony as an expample of the essence of Swedishness, Now I would like to take the opportunity to again promote something wonderful. Again it’s about music. Swedish public service (SVT) wanted to make a tribute to ABBA, who 50 years ago won the Eurovision (a lot of good things…
It’s Done
Facebook account removed.
Love ❤️
Last night the Mr and I talked about our mutual gratitude for each other. About how happy we are together, our appreciation of one another and how we want to continue to stay together. The conversation lasted about three minutes and took place over the phone. After 30 years together, it was both comforting to…
Voices from below
Even-though my father’s passing lies close to my heart and the grief stops by to visit at least once every day, I’m happy. Happy for the falsetto shout-outs from the living room downstairs where one son and his father enjoys (or not, judging by their voices) a football game together. Happy for them. Happy to…
Life and the end of it
Tuesday night my father passed away. That’s it. He was rushed in by ambulance one week prior, with a heart racing and a hard time breathing. The diagnosis: congestive heart failure and fluids in his lunges. Me and F visited him straight way and other than being tired he was him self. Made jokes with…
Work, what is it?
One of the outcomes of my coaching (yes, I know I keep nagging about this coaching thing, but it was/is a huge thing for me) has left me with an alternative, or wider, view of work. In the society I’m part of, work is many times equal to employment in which a monetary compensation is…
To be needed
Without knowing anything (or very little) about psychology I believe “to be needed” is very fundamental for us humans. That’s why a context for us humans is so important. To be in a context, any context, is more important than the right (if that is what’s offered). To get a text from your offspring wondering…
Light blue light
Today I took our little girl down to the beach after dropping F off at the train station. What a beautiful morning it was! The sky was light blue and pearly. It was just another day to be happy to be alive. How good of me to enjoy it! Now it’s more an everyday grey,…
A good start
The old year ended and the good year has started well. We managed to stay healthy (feels like we are almost the only ones, Covid19, flu and colds march through humanity around us). We have altered sleeping in the sofa with work and I managed with in the first week of the year to go…
Hello 2024
So what will happen 2024? Naturally we don’t know, but I will start to think of my goals and intentions for the upcoming year. I have a number of professional projects that I want to launch and others I want to start. Books, prints, exhibitions, and trainings to mention some. Let’s see what will be…
Bye bye 2023 – act III
The final reflection for 2023 I do through the question: What did I learn about myself in terms of values, priorities, and passions? My values have been grounded since 15-20 years back (probably longer, even if I wasn’t aware of them). I have talked about them previously, and I keep them even if I (wise…
Bye Bye 2023 – act II
The next question I ask myself in my annual reflection is: How have I grown personally and professionally in the past year? Well, the coaching I had together with Linnea and her Happy Business earlier this year has made me grow in ways, and at a speed, that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. I’m just…
Bye bye 2023 – act I
It’s getting closer, the end. The end of 2023. What better way to round it up than to do some reflections. My most significant achievements and accomplishments this year? Yes, I’m one of them. One who has written goals and to-do lists (of feel like it lists as I call it nowadays) both for professional…
Tribute to the ordinary
I started to think about how fantastic it is to be ordinary. A word so many seem to want to be as far away from as possible. Especially if/when it’s combined or put in context with our lives and self image. To be successful (in the eyes of others) today is equal to monetary fortune,…
Friends
I’m actually lost for words trying to describe what these lovely ladies mean to me. But I know they understand so I leave it at that. Thanks for a lovely weekend 😍
Is it so
Me blogging has always been around me (surprise), me wanting to share things, inform about things and sometimes lifting topics for debate (or food for thought). But it’s always been around me. My life my kids, my feelings and my thoughts. In other words a catastrophy from a marketing and communication perspective. But from a…
Wanting more
For the Mr’s 50th birthday we were off to Edinburgh for a long weekend (Thursday-Monday). The four of us. A Scottish friend of mine advised us to stay in the city as we were only being there for 3,5 days. She was (naturally) right. So we have to come back for more of both the…
Top of happiness
I think I’m currently experiencing the total high of my life. Gratitude.
Breath in breath out
I don’t see my self as a hateful person, who act or wish malevolent upon others. But sometimes I get tired of people. I still not wish them mayhem. I wish they would just be quiet or at least reduce the self-pity, and self-assertion (which is a painful reminder of bad self-esteem) and while their…
How much money does one need?
I think the first time I reacted to it (not the first time I heard it) was when Avicii mentioned it (or something similar) in the documentary (True Stories?) about him. He expressed his view about money, meaning that money wasn’t important to him. And now Zlatan said something similar in his Piers “Shame pillow”…
Breaks
I must realize that breaks are important. I’m the master of efficiency. But I have fooled myself to think that it only comes with me sitting in front of a computer. When I allow myself to break free and take a break, usually a walk with the dogs so many good ideas and perspective land…
This “influencer” thing
Lately I’ve been thinking of this “influencer” thing. Previously, when you looked at people’s social media profile many used to say “influencer”. As it’s not a protected title many could/can do so. But today I see less of these titles and thank God for that. Let’s face it, their reputation is really tarnished and rightfully…
An accolade? Is it, really?
I once read this celebration text, written by a man who loves his wife dearly. I know him as one of these really good men (you know, this group that all men think they belong to, but very few does). He is also one of these men who are litterateurs, who knows how to handle…
Unbelievable
EDIT: Just realized I started blogging 3 years prior. Started at another platform in end of 2007, which means I’ve been blogging for 16 years in December. It’s been 13 years! 13 years since I started to blog. Sure some years it has been low frequency but still. I have never had any other objective…
Friends and a visit to the cinema
When your day starts with that “not so good feeling” and your energy is lower than low, all you need is a chat with a friend and a movie date. Coincidentally we are going to watch “A great friend”. I think its exactly what I need right now.
Freedom of speech – what it isn’t
We need to clarify this. Once and for all. I just read a “conversation” in social media, where one person was very critical. Someone answered that it probably would be more beneficial if the person shared his/her viewpoints with the group responsible, the person wrote : “For your information, we have freedom of speech in…
What communication also can be
In my everyday life communication is: “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior” But I’d say it can be so much more. One thing I personally use it for, and that I try to teach others, is as a catalyst. According to the internet,…
How tragic
One of the few “influencers” I follow and who’s content I actually take in (partly, not the beauty tips as I’m not interested) is Louise Lundberg. Her newsletter shares good content on “what’s happening out there”, content that makes me feel more “in the loop”. This week she tipped us followers of this short documentary…
The outcome
I promised you to tell you the outcome of my coaching process as well. Naturally it is very personal and nothing that can or should be applied to anyone else. As described previously I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting from the coaching when I contacted my coach, but as our first meeting got…
It’s over
Officially it ended Friday, this is just a regular week-end. I have not been able to just sit down and relax all four weeks, but at the same time when the Mr is off I want to do things together with him, even if it’s only sitting next to each-other. Tomorrow the Mr starts working…
What we’ve done so far
During my husband’s vacation we have been to two concerts. Very happy we had the Swedish 80’s pop boy band Gyllene Tider prior to Coldplay’s. It would have been hard for any other concert to measure up to Coldplay. The Music of the Spheres Tour is AMAZING. But it was nice to have the boys…
Vacation time
We are at the time of year when Swedes go on their holiday or vacation as Americans’ say. According to the newspaper Dagens Industri the most popular weeks for holiday leave are the weeks 29, 30 and 31, which this year corresponds to the period 17 July – 6 August. This probably because July and…
Redoing
When it comes to interior design I’m not much for changes. When I’ve found the way I want things they tend to stay there. And replacing what I have just for fun, is something neither my wallet or my respect of the environment would tolerate. But yesterday I replaced one of my favourite pictures, taken…
Listen very carefully…
… I shall only say this once. Getting up early in the morning, I mean SUPER early (05.15 am) to be at the gym to be ready with your workout before 7.00 am, is the best thing ever. It IS! I promise you it is. After being away for a week not doing much of…
In Italy we…
Well, to tell you the truth we mainly drank and ate during our trip in Italy. I also worshiped all the wonderful exteriors this country (and now my camera’s memory cards) is FILLED with. We had some plans before leaving. Visit to a home chef, wine tasting by e-bike and a local guide in Verona….
Why it’s been quiet
Because I’ve been busy traveling Lombardy and Veneto with the love of my life. 30 years ago we hooked up and the Mr was determined we should celebrate this grandly by going to Italy. Years ago he went to Bergamo for training camp with one of his teams. He has wanted to go back ever…
The essence of Swedishness 🇸🇪
Today is the national day of Sweden. Hurra! 🇸🇪 It’s pretty new as an official holiday. Apparently it was the founder of Nordiska museet, Artur Hazelius, who 1893 started to celebrate the day by arranging a spring party at Skansen in memory of the election of Gustaf Vasa as King of Sweden in 1523 and…
My coaching process
My process probably wasn’t much different than anyone else’s. Maybe you get what you give during a coaching period, meaning it doesn’t really matter how much time you spend, you will still get answers out of it. As I’m in-between assignments right now, I gave it all. And boy what a ride I got. I…
Expectations of coaching?
To be totally honest with you, when contacting Linnea and Happy Business I didn’t really know why I did it or what I wanted to get out from the coaching. When I read the message I sent her, it was more a “I currently find myself at a time where I believe it would be…
Why coaching?
Is coaching for everyone? I’m sure it is, if you want to be coached. As a freedom fighter (you will see) like me, coaching is a better process to mentoring. As mentoring is more providing answers while sharing knowledge and experience, while coaching is being asked questions that I get to answer my self. Already…
My coaching journey
I still have one more session left with my coach after the summer, but as I feel that I have “already” figured out my thing, I will share my latest coaching journey with you guys. And even if I already have shared some of my process in nine (!) real time blog posts I will…
Is this God’s plan?
Drake’s song (do you call it songs nowadays?) God’s plan, is one of my favourites. Mainly because of the lyrics, or a small part of it, which I played together with Fabbe so many times: “She say, “Do you love me?” I tell her, “Only partlyI only love my bed and my momma, I’m sorry”…
Why my generation always will be needed
The simple answer, because we have a brain and we use it. We understand that even if I personally cannot help the customer, the customer needs help and I am the one who can lead that process forward. When I explain to the wee lad that I cannot register electronic invoices, explained to him what…
Another whim
Remember that about the cherry blossom, that I need to take pictures of them every year. I have another whim connected to flowers and that is that I need to smell, no not smell, inhale the scent of lilacs. Every year when the lilacs blossom I need to inhale the scent in a moment of…
The nicest thing I ever heard
Yesterday at the municipality’s business festival (which I believe has the best location in Sweden, Norrvikens trädgårdar), I ran in to an old acquaintance and former board colleague. We talked about the years that passed and how the kids are getting older, but that I don’t think Sam is ready to move out. Then she…
Fury
From time to time we hear that young people are lazy and don’t respect the “elderly”. Well, let me tell you something – you “elderly people”. Be a freaking good role model! If you are not, do not even start to think about complaining about the kids. I notice that when kids search for summer…
Louise Dock 