This blue marble

– and yet it spins

Category Archives: Lifestyle


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In quarantine

Another flight, another COVID-test, and another quarantine. And yet one more COVID-test in the horizon, before I am free to spend time with family (and even get groceries). Thank goodness for my parents who pick up my grocery box. Thank goodness for this cute cottage. And thank goodness I finally got wifi last summer, ending the years of working from an iPhone hotspot.

Nothing in this cottage is minimalistic, but with furniture and kitchenware spanning a century in age, all is how it should be in a Finnish summer house: teacups from Russia and DDR, my great-grand uncle’s wife’s soup tureens, my father’s father’s furniture and my mother’s mother’s chair, and an Ikea kitchen.

(Loviisa, Finland; April 2021)


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My favorite time of week

My favorite time of the week: Friday, 5 pm. Because that is when I put away the deadlines, the sharpness required to challenge myself and others, the analyses, the business cases, and the corporate politics. And that is when I pull out my yoga gear for an hour of deeply calming yin yoga. The expansion in my joints and body slowly spreads into my head, opening up the windows, letting all the buzzing flies out and fresh air in, for a weekend of headspace and creative endeavors.

Once upon a time, I used to travel 3-4 days a week: fly in, followed by death by Powerpoint in some airport hotel or office, and fly out again, either the same day or the next. Repeated until Thursday night (or ad nauseam, it felt). A year into this craziness I informed my manager that I was going to work from home every Friday, and my colleagues that the only way they would get me into the office was to buy me good-quality sushi for lunch. During the years, I think they went through the trouble of securing sushi for me only a handful of times.

And I found that this decision was a lifesaver: unclogging my mailbox and getting a few hours of deep work done on Fridays, before simply closing the laptop lid and stepping on my yoga mat not only gave me more unwasted hours in a day, but allowed me to land after a busy week. It set me up for a restorative weekend.

Since then, I have worked 2-3 days a week from home (unless traveling), for the best of 5 years, and found this balance ideal. COVID-19 has forced most of us to work from home, and for many, the lines have become blurred and work invaded evenings and weekends. But as we nine-to-fivers go back to the office, it is easy to get sucked into the other extreme again. For me, this means having a post-COVID conversation with my new manager, as I have no intention of spending 5 days a week at my new office.

But first, and now, some deep breathing (see the routine that works for my body here). And then, weekend.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; March 2021)


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Under the palm tree

I missed palm trees. I missed Bali. It was two and a half years since I had seen a palm tree grow in the wild (I will not count the beautiful gardens in Italy in 2019). I thought of Zanzibar’s picture postcard white beaches with palm trees swaying in the wind. And I looked outside, at the leafless, gray trees in my Copenhagen backyard, being stretched out by the cold wind gusts.

And so, that January night, under another COVID lockdown, I found a local garden center and ordered the biggest Kentia palm they had. To my surprise, it arrived already the following day, along with a self-watering container for the thirsty beast that it was.

What a beautiful beast it is, well taller than me. And now I can happily lie under a palm tree and make post-COVID travel plans. The list is becoming quite long already.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; January 2021)


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Three favorite podcasts

For at least a year I have thought about writing, or rather not writing, this post. I am so far behind many of you when it comes to podcasts. Because, not only do I stick to my habits, but I have an obsession for completion and lists. I go through much pain and boredom before I give up on a book or a movie mid-way. I love finishing off to-do lists. And to me, podcasts episodes look like… well, to-do lists. And they are a significant time investment. When I choose to get deeper into a podcast series, listening a couple episodes per week, it takes me months to decide whether I should keep listening or delete it from my list.

It hurts my head to think of the universe of amazing podcasts all around the world, available with just a few taps. Smart shows like Dear Sugar, Serial, and Stuff You Should Know are famous – and I shyly confess that they are not in my podcast list at all. Why? Because I can only keep track of about three podcasts at once, and once I get into them I need to go through the list, often several years and hundreds of episodes worth, to complete the series. Only when I get up to date with a podcast I like, do I have bandwidth to tackle another…. neurotic? Perhaps. Focused? For sure.

Here are the three ones that keep me busy (in no particular order of priority):

  1. The Ground Up Show, by Matt D’Avella
    These days, Matt D’Avella is equally well known for directing the documentary Minimalism, as well as his Youtube channel amassing millions of subscribers. The podcast is inactive since quite a while, but he managed to record 100+ interviews about starting from the ground up as a creative entrepreneur. In later episodes he moved towards topics like minimalism and health, and his experience as a stand-up comedian and conversational skills makes the episodes seem shorter than they are. This is my go-to for cleaning and other random household chores.
  2. The Goop Podcast
    Yes, I am a scientist by training and I love the Goop Podcast. I listen to it every night as I get ready for bed, and most nights even in bed, if I cannot sleep right away. The breadth of topics, from psychology and longevity to social issues and business, means I always learn and am never bored.
  3. Pörssipäivä
    The long-standing Finnish radio show on investing and money markets. I have several investing and personal finance podcasts on my list, but I am still stuck on this one, also because I still have some stock market investments in Finland. I usually pull up an episode in the evenings while making dinner or ironing clothes.

Soon I will be up-to-date with both Goop and Pörssipäivä. Can you recommed me a new favorite?

(Copenhagen, Denmark; March 2021)


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The champagne’s desire to escape

It was a windy, gray, chilling evening in early December. I had spent all day reviewing 2020 and playing strategy games with my new colleagues. My head was beginning to feel soft, but the time to relax had not yet come. First, I had to endure the test every new team mate goes through: opening a bottle of champagne with a saber. And I can tell you, while it looks fancy and impossible, it is way easier than tinkering with removing the wire net while pressing a thumb over the cork so it does not fly into the ceiling. All it requires is confidence, and a good determined swing from the shoulder, as the saber runs down along the neck of the bottle and sends the entire glass tip flying across the room.

And really, it was not I who broke the bottle; I merely supported the champagne in its desire to escape.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; December 2020)


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Kaamos

Kaamos is Finnish for “polar night”, the midwinter weeks or months when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all. Only about one quarter of Finland officially goes through gloomy kaamos weeks ever year, but all of Finland feel the lack of light and the long twilights in the morning and at night.

During kaamos, unless one lives very near the North (or South) Pole, there is enough daylight to go about daily activities: a never-ending blue twilight with deep shadows. Kaamos can be beautiful,too: in January and February, clear days roll through watercolor-washed skies of blues, yellows, oranges, and pinks, until the snow is colored a deep purple and finally sinks into the deep blue twilight again.

Copenhagen has a little over an hour more daylight than Helsinki, and I certainly feel the difference. Yet it is increasingly difficult to get up within the first half hour of my alarm clock. When there is so little color in the day, I crave color on my plate. While my digestion does not always agree with cold greens and salads in the winter, it helps to enjoy some of the last EU-produced colorful vegetables of the season.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; November 2020)


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My mornings, 2020 edition

I used to travel every week for two to three days. Sometimes four. For nearly a decade. Then 2020 came around, with two job changes and coronavirus. They downside is, I am losing my elite airline status. The upside is, I have gained a new morning routine for WFH and weekend mornings. They are many, and so sticking to a routine which works best for me now is easier than ever.

Why is a custom-built morning routine so important? Because it sets the foundation for a productive and energy-balanced day. What works, then? Well, I can only share what works for me, and it is not the 6 am wakeup with bullet-proof coffee followed by meditation and a workout that is favored by many.

The key to my own morning is the understanding of how my energy qualities shift during the day: I am mentally most productive before 2 pm, prefer a physically energetic workout in the late afternoon to relax, and a meditation at night to wind down for the day. This means that I pile up all writing, powerpoint slide creation, and planning before lunch and, if possible, push meetings and video conference calls into the afternoons. In the weekends, I begin my mornings with a concentration-requiring book followed by blogging, journaling, and other writing tasks until lunch.

I support my morning productivity with a protein-heavy breakfast to establish a stable energy level throughout the day. I used to do intermittent fasting for my entire adult life (and I had no idea it was a “thing”, it just felt better to skip breakfast) until just a couple of years ago. But when lunch became my main meal and I moved my dinner earlier, striving to be done by 7 pm, I realized I needed sustenance in the mornings. The overnightly fast is now a moderate 13-14 hours.

Here is my morning routine for most of 2020, version WFH:

  1. Wake-up 7.00-7.30 am (also weekend mornings. Consistency is key.)
  2. I open a window and burn incense, the fresh Japanese little sticks, to freshen up the air. A lovely Marie Kondo habit I adopted.
  3. I make a hot tonic and leave it to cool. A big glass of hot water with the juice of a quarter organic lemon, or fresh ginger or turmeric, with a quarter teaspoon honey. During more stressful times I used to go for lemon juice with salt (calms down cortisol levels) and cayenne pepper (wakes up a lazy stomach).
  4. Office worker’s stretch: Fold forward, arms hanging, to stretch legs. Grab ankle with both arms, legs straight, and pull back, stretching the hip of the other leg. Repeat on the other side. Sit down into a deep squat and extend arms forward to maximize the lower back stretch. Go down on knees and do 12-15 slow, careful scapular push-ups to prevent mouse-arm strain. Finally, stretch shoulders by standing up, interlacing fingers, folding forward, and bringing arms over head to hang.
  5. Tonic + supplements. I take a baseline of supplements supporting a woman on a meat-free and nearly dairy-free diet, along with a few performance-optimizing supplements.
  6. Reading. Could be as short as 15 minutes, also during work mornings. I usually reserve mornings for concentration-requiring or spiritual books. Right now I am reading A path with heart by Jack Kornfield.
  7. Breakfast. Plant-protein powered smoothie, or protein-powered oatmeal. Or gluten-free protein pancakes with berries if I have the time.
  8. Start the day. By now the time is around 8.30 am, leaving me enough time to get into shape for work and video conference calls before 9 am.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; November 2020)


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When at home: microgreens

It must be winter soon, because my poor radish microgreens stretch towards the window with all their might. Interestingly, they rotate towards the kitchen light, in the opposite direction, every night. I try to keep their suffering brief.

No travel means lots of opportunities to experiment at home. I tried growing microgreens in a compostable paper wool. It looks hassle-free, but begins to smell before slow-growing sunflower microgreens are ready. I am also not convinced I get good quality nutrition and may just end up making these superfoods less super. So I went back to potting soil. Perhaps coconut husk would be another less messy option?

(Copenhagen, Denmark; October 2020)


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Any given Friday

Any given Friday one can work, or one can take the day off and check into an Oriental day spa for the entire afternoon.

I decided to do the latter – and all in. The entire shebang. With champagne, chocolate fondue, smoothies, massages (plural!), and private sauna good enough for a Finn, and a bubble bath.

Why not, as all other holidays are canceled this year?

(Copenhagen, Denmark; October 2020)


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Shrooms

Who knew? All that is required to grow mushrooms at home is some cooked, wet hay, mushroom mycelium, and alternating dark and light. And if one is even more lazy, a do-it-at-home kit involving a dressed-up milk carton filled with wet hay and mycelium. Cut a little window in it, leave it somewhere not too hot and dark, and out sprout oyster mushrooms, within two weeks.

When these mushrooms ended up in my wok, I simply poured a bit of water into the carton, closed the window with tape, and returned it to the sill. In two weeks’ time I will cut another window and watch the magic unfold, once again.

(Copenhagen, Denmark; October 2020)