Happy Sunday, readers!
Let me start off by saying that I did not get on that plane and travel to the new (but old) exciting place I was telling you about two weeks ago. The practicalities of life got to me and, frankly, I’m relieved. I chose to stay put for a while longer, until the Spring, and let my daughter have a good stretch at her new (and lovely) preschool, while I grow my newsletter, look for a new (remote) job and have time to settle in before this circus hits the road. I guess you could say I opted for a slower, steadier, less exciting change because, let’s be honest, I’m no spring chicken anymore.
In my 20s and early 30s, I was terrified of boredom. Stability of any kind was my enemy. I moved between apartments, jobs, cities, countries and people with an alarming ease. Having spent most of that time in New York suited me well: the City was anything but stable, anything but boring.
And then I moved to Denmark and stayed for way longer than I expected. Copenhagen was a fascinating place, for all the reasons I write about often. It was also, um, a bit too stable. And so was the rest of Denmark and all the people in it, my husband included. Interesting, I thought, realizing that I kind of liked it that way. So much in Denmark was predictable, pre-chosen, pre-approved by their homogenous society and protective government that not much was up for re-invention, improvement, or re-thinking. It was, and is, a perfect society, at least as far as I’ve researched. (If you were born in Denmark that is and look the part. But that’s a whole other story.)
Out of this boredom and conformity, my inner voice started to emerge. Without the chaos and noise of life in America, I could hear my thoughts again. It was the first time in my life when I considered that, sometimes, boredom is a good thing. At least for neurotics like me. At least when it’s understood as a period of slowing down, not rushing things, not being on edge. And that is the boredom I’m embracing this season.
Instead of dashing to another side of the world, I’m challenging myself to improve what’s right here right now once again. And again, I’m looking at Nordic countries for inspiration. This season, I’ll write about all the big and small things I’m doing to improve my happiness levels, inspired by the Nordic region in general, and Denmark in particular.
#1. Getting on that bike again
It’s no spurprise that biking is the first thing on my improvement list. It’s the way of life for Scandinavians, with Copenhagen being called the most bikable city in the world. I wrote plenty on the subject, and I’ll never get tired of saying: there’s a direct connection between biking on a regular basis and happiness levels.
So last year, we bought our bikes, spent a few weekends biking to the beach with the baby, took amazing photos, framed them, and never biked again. Until this Fall.
And then we moved father away from the ocean, the shops and my daughter’s pre-school, in search of quietness. For a day or two, I complained about having to walk even more than I already do, and then I gave up and did something very Scandinavian and very scary: I bought a bike trailer and had my husband attach it to my spider web-covered Specialized. Yes, I now pull my daughter to her school like a mule, and I couldn’t be happier.
It took a couple of weeks of staring at the trailer for me to build up the courage, but eventually, I did overcome my fear of our angry drivers and pedaled, terrified at first, then liberated.
These days, biking my daughter to preschool is the happiest part of my day. I only do it twice a week (on other days my Danish husband drives, like a real American), but I promise myself to do it every day, and maybe one day, I will. And my daughter is getting used to cycling as a way of life. Even when walking now, I chose our most bike-friendly street, as if to pretend that here we are, in Europe. Never mind that we have to cross over a highway on the way home.
Small victories, guys.
More on my happiness challenge next week.
What small victories are you working on at the moment?
Ohmygosh, good 👏🏼 for 👏🏼 you! 👏🏼 I think that sounds like a huge thing, and anything that increases your own happiness in this insane world is worthwhile and brave and wonderful.