This weekend me and Erik have been up in the mountains close to the Norwegian border. We’ve been staying in a mobile home with my friend and her family, spending the days out in the open terrain with snow and ice all around us. To most people from this region it’s a regular weekend activity. This is where most of us grow up – surrounded by mountains, animals, frozen lakes and snow covered nature. Learning from early age to be outside for hours in a row, going long distances with snowmobile and living a simple life with no water and (at least it used to be) no electricity.
I haven’t been here for a couple of years and last time I was up here I remember thinking it wasn’t that much ’fun’. This is two hours from home. The camping site is located at the end of the road and beyond is only nature. The sceneries, the mountains, being so small compared to nature and living a simpler life – it’s all so soothing for the soul. I am privileged. Privileged to have this so close to home and being able to go here and gather my thoughts and get perspective on life. We were talking over dinner the other day, that getting away from our city life, the stress, all the must-dos and have-to’s, is not only good for us – but necessary.
When you take away our TV, computers, smart phones and screens, when you stop worrying about the look and cleanliness of your home, when you take away social media and the pressure that it comes with. Only then can we be truly present. Only when there is nothing else but us in this moment can we begin to really listen to each other. This society that we are building is not sustainable. By being constantly online and available to the world, by having our brains constantly filled with information – we are being less and less present in our own lives, in our own reality. We are ruining ourselves, we are ruining our children and the only way forward is stepping back.
On Friday there was a terrorattack in Stockholm. Some people are afraid to go out into nature, I’m not. Out in nature I feel safe. It’s the alternative reality we are building for ourselves that is scaring me.
I am privileged to get to come here and be truly present. Coming here this time, I appreciated it so much more. Because this is not only ’fun’ – it’s necessary.
Copyright Amanda Matti | Explorealittlemore.se
