MOUNTAINS OF HOPE

 Thursday 9th of april 2026 The rhythm of walking. Rhythm of life.  Video: Rhythm of walking (1)

 Wednesday 8th of April 2026 Who am I? Who are you? "Self then is both very big and very small. In each of us lives the history of man; in each, an awakening individual being. When we ask for self-fulfillment, we are asking for two kinds of experience. One is the experience of what it is to be a human being, i.e. an experience of our origins and history, our culture; and the other is the experience of myself, the mystery of myself, co-creator of history and culture. Who am I? Who are you? Who are we?" (Richards, 1973, 160-161) Photo: Self-portrait as a leaf in a pond Reference Richards, M.C. (Mary Caroline). 1973. The Crossing Point. Selected Talks and Writings. Wesleyan University Press.

Tuesday 7th of April 2026 Today, while walking, I pondered on the questions: Who are we? Where did we come from?  According to cosmology some of the matter on Earth originate as far back as the Big Bang (Enqvist, 2020). Enqvist calls this matter "stardust, ashes of dying stars spread into space." If matter on Earth is stardust settled down, living and co-creating life, here, on this planet, what does it make us? Are we stardust as well? Do we originate in the Big Bang or in an even earlier existence? Where do we come from? Who are we, actually? I notice that a couple of seemingly simple questions give rise to more questions. Philosophers say "we are questioners by nature; answers just get in the way." (Noë, 2023, 224). Some things tend to be more beautiful the more mysterious they are. Life is one such thing. Photo: Cosmic evolution pictured by a pole in a pedestrian bridge References Enqvist, Kari. 2020. "When Dead Stars Come Back to Life" in Kantava maa...

 Monday 6th of April 2026 The sound of gently running water is soothing. Against all odds the river is still alive. Nowadays a small brook. In the past a bold river. Sixty years ago tamed by dredging in the name of advancement.  Two feet deep. The water still flows. Video: Waters of the stream which runs through the village 

 Sunday 5th of April 2026 I can't stop thinking about the mountains who lived here two billion years ago. I'm walking on the root of an ancient mountain range. There's traces everywhere. I photographed a peculiarly formed stone today. It may be shaped by the waters of the last ice age, ten thousand years ago. In my childhood the stone belonged to my grandmother. It is a magic stone. Photo: My grandmother's magic stone

 Saturday 4th of April 2026 The crane has arrived. His song cries through the morning mist. I walk past the stream into the open field where the power lines cut the sky. I don't like the power lines. They are ugly. But in the misty landscape accompanied with the crane's cry there's a melancholic beauty in the ugliness.  Photo: Traces of civilization (the power lines crossing the local village road)