Saturday, June 7, 2025
This day started like any other. I woke up and did my usual little yoga routine in bed—a comforting habit that helps me land in my body before the day really gets going. But not long after, the day took an unexpected turn. I felt something itchy behind my knee. At first, I thought it might be a small scrape or a scab. But when I looked closer, my stomach turned—it was a tick.
Friday, June 6, 2025
Today is Sweden’s National Day, and I celebrated it with family and friends in my childhood neighborhood, Åkersberga. It was a lovely day! We combined the celebration with a birthday party for one of my sister’s children, who turned 12. There was delicious food, cake, and plenty of joyful memories. Sweden’s National Day is still a relatively new tradition. It used to be called Swedish Flag Day, and it’s actually only been a public holiday for about 20 years.
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Now that I’ve moved my blog to Micro.blog, my blogging routine looks a bit different. So I figured it’s about time I updated my contribution to the Our blogging workflow list. Writing Most of the time, I write my posts in TextEdit on my Mac, in full-screen mode. I love the completely stripped-down experience – a blank screen slowly filling with words and sentences. Even though my blog posts are in English, I write them in Swedish.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
I’ve conducted over 6,000 home inspections. That’s taken me to countless places — and brought me face-to-face with even more people. Each inspection is unique, not just because of the property, but because of the people I meet along the way. Every now and then, I come across a customer I’ve met before. With around a thousand visits a year, it’s not always easy to remember every face or every name.
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
I was a few minutes early to one of the jobs today. I sat down on a park bench to wait. The first thought that popped into my head was: “What can I use this time for?” As if something always has to be happening. As if it’s a loss not to do something productive the moment a gap appears. As if a quiet pause is a waste of time.
Monday, June 2, 2025
When I finished one of the day’s jobs, the customer asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. I politely declined and explained that I had to head to my next appointment. He smiled at me and said: “Oh yes, you have time.” And of course, he was right. Sure, I had another customer to get to, but it really wasn’t that urgent. There was room for a Swedish fika moment.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
This blog has moved from Bear and now has a new home on Micro.blog. But it was far from an easy or obvious choice. I posted my first entry on Bear on February 16, 2023, and I still love the platform. My time there has led to several valuable connections, thanks to the fantastic community that has grown around it. Creating the Bearming theme also brought me both joy and new knowledge.
Monday, April 21, 2025
I listened to an interview with the Swedish artist Ernst Billgren. Among other things, he said: If we had half as many opinions, and if the ones we had were half as strong, I think we would live happier lives in a more peaceful world. I am convinced that this is true. There is so much suffering in our world and in our lives that could have been reduced or completely avoided with less strong opinions.
Saturday, April 12, 2025
It’s been a pretty challenging week at work — lots of home inspections and a whole lot of driving. I did the math, and on average I’ve been doing six jobs a day and driving twelve Swedish miles (about 75 English miles). Yesterday, during my lunch break, just as I finally sat down to relax, the office called. They asked if I’d be up for working some overtime. I replied with a polite but firm “No”.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
I’ve been thinking about why I write… Is it a call for attention? A hope that it might lead to something “big”? A fear of missing out? To be honest—yes, that was true in the past. And it felt good, for a while. But then, it started to itch… A constant sense that nothing was ever good enough, no matter how successful things looked from the outside. Always chasing the next thing, trying to unlock the secret to “success.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
I heard an interview with the Swedish author Per Hagman. As a new parent, he explained that nights out and similar activities no longer appealed to him. He described it as being “free from freedom”. Even though I’m not a parent, I understand the feeling. It’s one of the reasons I’m not so fond of Swedish summers. People go a bit crazy! They have to sit at outdoor cafés and in parks all the time.
Monday, July 15, 2024
Coffee cups at Ritorno Café, Stockholm. Did you know that Sweden is one of the top 10 coffee-consuming countries in the world? We really love our coffee. Not just the drink itself, but the whole experience. We love to fika. I actually started drinking this magical beverage pretty late — around 18. Back then, I was working as a bricklayer and felt it would be rude to say no when the people who hired me offered me coffee.
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Inspired by Juha-Matti Santala’s post, Short History of My Blogging Journey, I decided to write a little about my own blogging journey — which has been a bit bumpy, to say the least. I started blogging about 20 years ago using Movable Type, which was pretty much the only tool available at the time. After about a year, I switched to WordPress. My first blog was called Smidigt (Swedish for “easy/handy”).
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Went to the hairdresser. I started explaining what I wanted… Then I stopped myself and said: “Just do whatever you think looks good.” The result? Something I’d never have thought of – and it looked great. What if we cut (or at least trim) our ideas and preconceptions in other parts of life too, every now and then? What kind of opportunities might show up? Let’s find out! ✂️
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Hello everyone! I’ve been keeping an eye on Bear Blog1 for a while, and I really like its approach and philosophy. So, I started thinking: “What should I write about? The blog needs a theme.” And I kept thinking… and thinking… and thinking… Finally, I realized I could brainstorm until that storm turned into a tornado and swept everything away! It’s great to have a clear idea, of course, but sometimes it’s better to just throw it out there and see what happens.