The yikes factor

There are a couple of yikes factors. I entered this Gurushots photo challenge by mistake. As always, I was only supposed to participate in the challenge and not enter the exhibition. The entrance fee for the photo exhibition was about 9 euros. But what was done is done. I entered with 4 photos, and this got the most votes. So now I’ve been selected to be one of the over 1000 digital photos to be displayed in the exhibition. I got an invitation to the opening night in November in India. But of course I won’t go. I’m just happy to be part of the photo exhibition.

a heart shaped keyhole on an old wooden door
Photo: Yours truly, 2025. Taken with Canon EOS 40D

The other yikes factor is that my birthday is around the corner, on June 2. How time goes fast. In two years, I’m turning the big 5 0. That’s even more yikes, but I prefer not to think that far ahead. Age is nothing but a number anyway. I won’t be celebrating that day, but the next day. I will see Duran Duran in concert for the second time. This time, it’s indoors, so there won’t be weather problems like it was in 2022. That was a wet one, but I still had a good time. I can’t wait for this one. I’ve got a good seat. Or it’s standing since it’s on the floor.

The most yikes factor is the Kylie Minogue concert on June 23. It’s in a more difficult place to get to. First, I need to drive to Espoo, Finland, to the hotel and then take the tube from the hotel to the concert hall. I have never been in that part of the country. It’s close to Helsinki, but there was too much hustle with public transport from there, so I decided to go by car. At least then I don’t need to go by schedule. That’s going to be another travelling adventure.

Split in two or more pieces

Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Pexels.com

Ever thought you’ve taken too much to handle at once? That there isn’t enough time in a day to do things? You wish you had more time. You almost need to split yourself into two or more pieces to do it all.

Sometimes, I think I have too many things to think about and don’t have time to concentrate on all of them. I’ve had so many other things on my mind lately that I have had no time to blog. In addition to personal things, I have different social media accounts on Instagram to keep up with. Before, I had two, but now I have three for various purposes.

I use one in English for personal use. The other two are in Finnish and are for the graphic design and photography business. A few weeks ago, I started a faceless marketing account where I would sell digital products. It makes me think I took too many at once. One of the accounts doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I’ve been focusing on the new account recently. I was tired of waiting for someone to get in touch on the older business account. I found an easier way to make money than trying to find clients. I don’t really want to do what many other graphic designers do, like visual identity. Actually, I’m split between what I want to do because I want to do many things. I’ve got to get some income somewhere, so why not try to sell digital products? I want to use my graphic design and photography skills to help people.

If you organise your time, you can get more things done during the day. The main thing is that you make time to relax. What you didn’t have time to do today, you can continue tomorrow. There is a time and place for everything.

Building a boulder

pile of rocks and swans
Photo: Taken by me in 2022

Building a boulder is like life. You start with one rock, and as you get older, it gets bigger. But if you put too much at once, it might collapse. Then you sometimes want to take one of those rocks and throw it at someone. But you don’t throw it because you’re not a barbarian, and you don’t want to go to prison because of some idiot you can’t stand. The anger is temporary, after all, and you move on. If something doesn’t work, you do something else.

I’ve built many metaphoric boulders in my life, but I’ve always been careful that they don’t collapse. You cannot manage life if you only have good things. It’s better to be cautious than sorry, though. You live longer, too. Many do stupid things when they’re young and regret it later. There is nothing wrong with living an eventless life, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experience things. I have never had a list of what to do before turning a certain age because of what you wanted to do before 30, you can do when you’re 40, and so on. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t experience things. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. You can’t regret things you have never done. Life hasn’t been worthless even if you haven’t done anything special. Everybody doesn’t want to do things other people do. Life can still be fulfilling if you haven’t travelled, got married, or had any other experiences. If you lived your life without leaving your house, that’s another story. That’s not living, that’s wasting life.

No matter what has happened in my life, I’ve stayed above water. It seems young people today haven’t had a bad experience to handle life, so they get depressed or aggressive because things don’t go their way immediately. Life isn’t about having fun all the time. You need to do boring stuff and have adversity, or you don’t learn and become a stronger person mentally. Building a strong boulder of life will make it more bearable and make the most of it.