Reflections On A Beautiful Reality

Dreams, lessons learned, and a year well travelled

It’s a long one! It may be cut off in your emails. Please click through to read it in your web browser.

---

Hello, Dear Reader,

I’m pondering. Not ruminating—that’s kind of agrarian and heavy, reminiscent of a slow cow, chewing over its stomach contents. It’s not that. It’s more a thread of silver I’m following that started with a question: What if our dreams aren’t realised?

This has been on my mind because I have dreams. We (my partner and I) have dreams we share. Dreams we want to realise.

Part of our dream is to be able to work from anywhere in the world. We’d love to be able to spend regular time in Australia. To have the funds and flexibility to housesit in Melbourne or Home Exchange in Scotland. To work from our laptops. To skip the Finnish winter if we want to.

We’ve given it a go this year.

Reflecting on the year that was, the highs, the fun, the laughter, it’s been an amazing year.

From November 2023 to March 2024, we were in Australia, spending time with friends and family. Enjoying the summer. (I also developed an incredibly painful frozen shoulder that is no longer painful and less frozen—I can wash my hair with 2 hands now.) It was so many things! So many emotions.

Australia

In early June we travelled to Nice, France, to watch my dear friend Sirelle compete in the Hyrox Championships, a feat of incredible strength and endurance. I discovered I could say some words in French and that I was a very good sports commentator, live streaming Sirelle’s efforts on her Instagram account to family and friends back in Australia. I’ve missed my calling there and am available for hire!

Nice

At the end of June, we had a family wedding at a small castle in Sweden. It was magical, fun, exciting. All the things a wedding should be. I danced, swam in a lake at midnight, ate cake, laughed. And witnessed as the wonderful Catey and Simon shared their love with people from all over the world.

Sweden

In July we embraced tent life as the long summer days stretched out ahead of us. Bird calls, bugs, sauna, swimming and a simplified life meant we could rest but also connect thanks to technology. We worked from the deck near the water!

Åland Islands

I had the great pleasure of meeting my lifelong friend, Rebecca, in Stockholm. We’ve known each other for nearly forty years and what a delight it was to show her Stockholm and my home on the Åland Islands. We laughed and reminisced, visited the ABBA museum and art galleries, and ate good food. Shared our memories of old and made lovely new memories. It was her first time in the Nordic region and I hope she will be back—next time with hubby and daughter.

Stockholm

In late September we left our island home for another adventure—five weeks in the UK, via Amsterdam. My dream of seeing Nick Cave live (twice cancelled in ‘those Covid years’) was fulfilled! We went with friends who were our wonderful hosts in the lovely city of Amsterdam. We all cried tears of joy during the performance—he’s a magician, is Mr Cave. A poet and dreamer. A philosopher. Pure magic!

Mr Cave

Traversing the UK (via an overnight stay in Dublin), we settled for a week in Wales then two weeks in Bath, spending the rest of the time flitting around, which was both fun and tiring. It was a peek into a future, that with some planning and intention, could become a regular occurrence. Ensuring we get alone time and aren’t moving around too much are things we learned on this trip. The pleasure of being surrounded by the ghosts of notable people from history was wonderful—I sat where Dickens sat and walked in the footsteps of Austen! I never tire of that feeling.

Pembrokeshire, Bath, Whitby.

In November, we arrived home to the heavy, dark days of Autumn. The leaves were gone; our lovely esplanade, bare and brown. Snow arrived and it was magical. For a brief time anyway, melting away only days later. To be home in our apartment has been lovely—to reconnect with our space and our things. Having travelled with hand luggage for 5 weeks, it was rather nice to get home to a bigger wardrobe!

Since then it’s been grim. Low, grey skies, short days, dripping trees and rooves, bitter winds. It’s not so inviting. But it does allow for reflection. Reflection on the year that was: on an amazing year, a stressful year—the financial risk of both of us going out on our own, of trying something new is stark.

This leads me back to the beginning: what if our dreams aren’t realised?

This year, our dreams were realised, but perhaps not in the way we expected. We’ve been able to travel, see friends and family, meet new friends, explore amazing places, and live the life we dreamed of. It’s come with financial pressures that we didn’t want but which seem to surface from time to time in life. The result? No travel plans in 2025. We’re grounding ourselves. Staying put to recalibrate, save, and steady the rudder (if you love a sailing metaphor).

Dreams made real can sometimes be like that: not what we expect. Lessons are learned as we navigate life and the ebb and flow of how we survive and thrive. We have a picture or idea and even a plan of what we want and how we want it to be and the reality is slightly different. It can come with a shadow, but there’s always light needed to make a shadow and this year the light has been bright.

Fear can make us contract. We curl inwards, our brains going ‘lizard’ as we try to protect ourselves. This year has taught me to breathe into that feeling. To let it move through me instead of controlling me. I’ve learned to ‘go with the flow’. I’m following the energy and what lights me up rather than letting fear control my decisions. It’s not new but I’m more intentional about it.

I’m choosing a flourishing life. To connect with incredible people, old and new. To bring to light my skills and talents. To give fewer flucks about a whole bunch of stuff and care deeply about things that really matter. To trust my intuition. To breathe deeply, move intentionally, bathe in nature, and be with loved ones.

A beautiful reality.

Stay dreamy and see you in 2025,

Lisa x

In other news:

I’m building a fun community over at Flucking Flourishing! If a community full of sparkly, fun-loving, mid-century Queenagers is something that lights you up, join now!