Wild Strawberries (an introduction)

I don't know if you believe this, but I do. Synchronicity is my life force. It is what keeps us moving.

Of course there many other contributors, such as sudden ideas, emotions, and goals. But for me, it is the understanding that there is something much, much bigger out there then just, us. That has control of our intent.

Almost two years ago, I traveled through northern Europe. I was this young, ambitious, inspired-by-everything 18-year-old who had a big dream to write about life. I spent my July 2016 painting farm houses red; you know that beautiful burgundy shade that most Nordic houses are covered with.

It was the day of my graduation day. But I was far from the event. I was half way across the world, experiencing other ways of living. I had already been abroad from Canada for 6 months. And I wasn't yet ready to go back.

So on that special day I was walking back from the beach on the peninsula named Nesoddtangen. It was a clear sunny evening in July, and I was enjoying every minute of it.

Along the pathway, I noticed some red spots at the side of the ditch.

Earlier that morning, a local friend had mentioned that it was the right time to find wild strawberries. So I stopped and walked to the side of the road.

I was surprised how excited I was to having finding some! They were so small and delicate, if one picked one too fast it would become mush. So I carefully collected them until I had a clumsy handful.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone walking towards me.

He introduced himself as Paul from France. He is a Reiki healer, who had moved to Norway. And I happened to be picking strawberries right in front of his house!

We started to talk, as we shared the treasure of summers ripe candies. Paul invited me to a birthday that he was hosting the next day, and I was more then happy to come.

We said our goodbye's and I started home again, with a big smile on my berry-stained face. I was becoming used to the comfort in finding friends no matter where I traveled to.

It was as if people always came, at the right time.

The next day I attended the little birthday bash, where I was introduced to many special people that are still dear friends to this day.

There, I met a young women named Hanna from Finland. She had made a very tasty wild-harvested salad, covered in edible flowers. We instantly became close, and she invited me to volunteer in Finland that summer at a festival.

I immediately said yes, as a big smile spread across my face.

Even though I didn't actually know how to get to Finland, or what Finland was like, or what kind of festival it even was, I was overcome with excitement.

It just felt like the right thing to do.

I later learned that I would be volunteering at the Nordic Permaculture Festival, hosted in Isnäs in August. I could camp on the grounds by the sea, learn each day, and help set up a recycled festival!

Hanna was so grounded, wise, positive, and completely filled with light as she spoke, and I was inspired by her love for Permaculture.

At the time, I had heard the term before, but didn't completely understand the meaning. But as she explained elaborately about wild harvesting, forest gardening, and communities, I wanted to know all about it. It caught my eyes.

I had been traveling for a long time on my own, and the idea of working with like-minded people, in nature, in the middle of a Nordic summer, it sounded too good to be true! We said our goodbye's and promised to meet in 3 weeks later in Finland.

...So back to the synchronicity and strawberries.

If I hadn't stopped that one warm day in Nesoddtangen, if I hadn't spotted those wild strawberries,

Where would I be now?

I wouldn't have met Paul, who ended up offering me a job in Cambodia teaching English at a yoga center. (That is an whole other story.)

I wouldn't have met Ajaya, a kind friend who ended up driving me all the way to Sweden, to catch a ferry to Finland.

I wouldn't have been introduced to Hanna who invited me to my next big adventure.

And I would never have heard about this Permaculture Festival in Isnäs.

All those moments, came from those wild strawberries.

My plans for that year changed completely. My entire life, grew, from the people I met.

I was dead-set on going to Mongolia that fall, but instead, everything changed!

We really never know where life will take us. Or what we will do to effect everything, or who we may will meet.

This incredible encounter taught to have an open mind, but even more - an open heart.

So I continued on-wards to Suomi, Finland.

Ajaya drove me all the way through Sweden from Norway, speeding right past border control and laughing along the way. This lovely 80-year-old Norwegian man had been so helpful. I thanked him and jumped onto the ship via Helsinki. I slept outside on the deck with the wind, and woke to a beautiful sight.

Tervetuloa Suomeen.

Welcome to Finland.

I arrived in Helsinki, sleep-deprived but happy, and caught a bus to Porvoo, where I met Hanna.

It felt surreal to be in Finland and see a friend. We spoke with excitement as we drove to the festival grounds in Isnäs.

I spent the week there volunteering with 18 others. Everyone was from Finland except one girl from Holland. We quickly became a closely-knit family, and the days felt endless. The sun never really set and all we ate were recycled vegetables from grocery stores that would have thrown them out. There was music and dogs and laughter and Finnish and saunas and sunshine.

It felt like a community within a few days, and I believe it was one of the happiest times of my life.

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

It is also one of the happiest times of my life because I met one of my life-long best friends there.

Outside of a compost toilet....

Where I had just came from. Teemu knocked on the door and out I stepped. It was like I entered from a portal and there he was. Time froze, and, how do they say it again?

The rest, is history. :)

Teemu (pronounced Tay-moo) is from Finland, even though he sounds more Danish to me. ;) It is because he learned English from many different accents and countries.

Teemu has been traveling on and off for 7 years. Bringing him all the way from working on cow farms in Australia, to living in caves on the beach with locals in Morocco, to hitching from Finland all the way to Iran, to helping at a spiritual village in Brazil, to flying to India the day after finishing army, and to many many more adventures.

Teemu has seen the world through his own clear, bright brilliant eyes and is one of the most humble, interesting, and kindest person I know. He is so humble that if I write anything more about him, he won't let me post this haha!

So here we are..

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photo taken by: Reka Raffay

Photos taken by: Reka Raffay

For more of the Nordic Permaculture 2016 photos: https://goo.gl/photos/pVP7q3xq3DGNi8XS8

I think these pictures explain this weekend better then I can. Haawa, Kiitos, and Thank you Reka if you ever read this!

The festival lasted for 4 days. The food was local and fresh. The bongo music that played at night echoed through the surrounding forests and across the bay of the sea. Workshops were shared and inspiration flowed through the air.

Teemu and I spent the entire time together, among friends. I learned that he was starting his own dream of a permaculture farm. He told me of his grandfather's land where he was living that summer. He told me he had sheep and chickens.

And I saw the excitement in his eyes. He knew what he was meant to be doing.

I was planning to catch my flight back to Norway after the festival, but I ended up staying in Finland for an extra month with Teemu at his farm, and missed 4 flights. It was the best choice I had ever made.

We lived among the forest and woke up each day under the sun. We harvested wild blueberries and mushrooms for breakfast. We laughed at the sheep that knocked everything over, and embraced the special summer that was coming to an end.

It became my second home. Teemu's family has been living there since the 1500's. The history of the place and his ancestors amazed me. My relatives moved from northern Europe to western Canada less then 60 years ago. There were letters and trinkets and buildings on the land that was over 100 years old! We are grateful to work with nature that has been cared for for centuries.

Teemu fell in love with Permaculture and natural ways of living at first slowly, and then all at once. It is his biggest passion and is growing to be mine as well.

For us, it is becoming a mindset, and a way of life.

It is going back home, to nature.

It is knowing that everything we do, has reason and good intention.

It is the awareness that humans - to this day - can still be self-sufficient in everything we do.

It is beneficial for the world, the people, our communities and ourselves.

It is simple, yet meaningful.

And it is fun!

"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." -Bill Mollison

Rantamäki

Red Currents

Love at first sight

Mortti, Vertti, and Taavi the sheep.

Chantarelles

A man's best friend

Veikko, the rooster.

The precious spring.

Auringonkukka.

...Where would I be if I hadn't noticed those strawberries?...

I hope the next time that you do find any wild berry please pick them. They really do have good luck and magic in their cells. And if you can't find any go to Norway in June. ;)

So now that were a little up-to-date, it is April two years later, and our very first summer will be spent at the farm together.

I will stay updated on our projects, ideas, recipes, successes and failures, stories and seasons.

Thank your taking the time to read this. I look forward to sharing our story with you lovely souls!

And remember, good things take time :)

Thank you,

Haawa and,

Kiitos,

Elin