My family has not had a real Christmas tree for decades. The last time we had one was probably in the 1990s. Too many spruce needles were on the floor, so we didn’t bother buying one. We used a small plastic one that my grandmother used to own. That’s the only Christmas tree I will have. I won’t stay home for Christmas anyway, so there is no point having one.
Instead of having a real tree at home, there is the official one in front of the local church. It’s not an unknown fact for the Finns, but for you who don’t know, the official Christmas tree has been a tradition since the 20th century. Every year, there’s a new one, and on January 13, it will be used for something else, so nothing will go to waste. Every city in Finland has one, but this tree is the most elegant. It also has a fresh scent that plastic trees don’t have. Going under a spruce tree feels like you’re in the woods. It’s not everywhere you can get under a Christmas tree, right?
It’s December, but it doesn’t look like it. If you want to see snow in Finland, you need to go up North. But then you will meet the darkness despite the snow. The sun doesn’t show in Lapland for a while because of the polar night. It’s right down austere if you’re not used to it. I think people who live in the South of Finland suffer more from it because they don’t know how to handle it the same way. Snow would make it less dark, but now it’s dull and depressing. It’s more about attitude. If you see darkness as bad and don’t see anything positive about it, you look at it incorrectly. You shouldn’t stop living just because it’s not light outside. The sun sometimes shows in the South of Finland, so it’s not always dark. There was snow in November, but it melted. The weather forecast predicted there would be snow this week, so that will be less austere.
Some people get depressed when it gets dark earlier, but I don’t mind. It’s cosy when you can sit inside with the lights on and do things you usually do. If I go outside, looking at people’s balconies with Christmas lights is nice. Then, the city has lights and decorations all over. If you complain about how grey and depressive things are, then it’s no wonder you feel depressed. Put on the lights and the candles. Listen to music, watch a movie and anything you fancy. Take a walk outside or take a car ride. Or maybe go to the shopping mall and look in the windows. You don’t need to buy happiness. If you look outside and think, “It’s so dark, ” don’t. It won’t be like that forever. When the darkness is over, you complain about it being too light. What is wrong with us? Nothing is ever good enough. Negative thinking is never good, so stay positive and find something good in everything. Have a cookie. Even the smallest thing can make you feel better. Things are only austere because you make them to be, so don’t. They can be simple if you want to.
What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?
Daily Writing Prompt
You might have a dream job when you’re a kid, but it changes as you age. Some people know what they want to be and stick to it from the start. In some way, I envy those people. It’s a good envy. My mind is more complex than that. I have a leak in my career path because I keep changing my mind. When I was 6, I wanted to be a baker because I liked to help Mum in the kitchen. Later, I realised baking is fun, but cleaning and waking up early isn’t. I bake occasionally but wouldn’t want to do it for a living. I also can’t do a job where you must always wash your hands. Wearing rubber gloves isn’t good either. You could say I have an education path, not a career one, because I don’t have enough job experience.
When I finished compulsory school, I had to apply for further education. My educational advisor suggested healthcare studies, but I didn’t want to apply. My mother said I should start somewhere, so I did. The education was for a year, but it seemed longer than that. I was 17, my first time living away from home. I only went home at the weekend. My mother was right; I should start somewhere because I could have been an outcast youth if I hadn’t. After primary school, it is good to have a further plan. I was lucky to have people who helped me decide what to do next. As a teenager, you don’t know yourself the way you do when you become an adult. I’ve been to two schools that I didn’t finish.
One was business school, and the other was photography. I didn’t like economic education for two reasons, Math and awful schoolmates. Photography education wasn’t fun either. It was at the beginning of the 2000s, and digital cameras weren’t that common. The teacher was all about film and refused to teach us about digital photography. I didn’t understand film development with all the different liquids. It was too complicated for me. The only thing I liked about the school was my roommate and the chance to use Photoshop in the computer room. The trip to the school wasn’t fun either. First, take the bus and then walk about 3 kilometres. I was only there for 3 or 4 months and then quit. My mother said I gave up too quickly, and in a way, I still do. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, and that’s the easy part.
I have considered different career paths. As a teen, I wanted to be a singer for a moment because I liked to sing along to songs I liked. Then, I thought I would want to work for a radio station or in a fan club. I even applied for a dance education, which luckily was cancelled. I don’t know what I was thinking with that. I didn’t even like school discos. I applied for the dance one after I finished my healthcare education. I was very restless when I was a teenager. I wanted to live in England because my favourite band, Take That, lived there and you could study English there for 3-4 months. I also wanted to see some other places than Finland. My mother didn’t want me to live there, maybe because we didn’t have the money to send me there. She didn’t even want to pay for a concert ticket when the band was here. The older I got, the less I wanted to live abroad. I’ve always been a homebody; I didn’t stay out late at night as a teenager. I had no friends anymore with whom to spend time anyway. I liked spending time with my parents and spending quality time with them. I didn’t have a reason to go out. They supported me in any occupation I chose.
I never really had a career path. It’s challenging to have anything when you concentrate on what you want to do for a living. Even if my mother was dying, she always worried about if I would find a job. She had been unemployed, so it was understandable she didn’t want the same thing for me. But it’s been inevitable these days because there are only jobs in places where I don’t have an education. I have never wanted to do only one thing. I like being versatile. Once, I thought about becoming a screenplay writer because I enjoy writing and have studied writing. But it’s hard work and an unstable job. I can’t even finish the fan fiction I write. A career in movies and TV would be an exciting career path. But it’s a complex business to get into. It would be different if I was younger, and I would have time to start something different. I have studied creative things, so I want to combine them.
I found what I wanted to do, but since I don’t have the experience, I don’t get a chance to work anywhere. They all want job experience but don’t even provide internships for people like me. They’re all for young people who study. My resume has too many leaks. Studying doesn’t mean a squat if you don’t get the chance to work in the field you studied. All I get offered are jobs that aren’t moving my career further. If I was younger, those jobs would be OK. I’m seriously thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. I have already taken courses in social media to promote myself. I just don’t know if any of it will get me clients, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Maybe I will finally get that career I’ve been looking for and end to the leak.
In my world 