A Week of My Life in Northern Sweden | Last Month of Winter

We are slowly making it to the end of this winter. The coldest winter in 15 years. And I bet you can imagine how much I look forward this spring. The month of March has always been a little bit complicated for me. It's that space in between winter and spring, where nothing is fully one thing or the other. And after many months of darkness, the light returns so suddenly here in the north. And it's so strong, almost blinding as it reflects on the snow. And even though I've longed for the light, my body doesn't always know how to receive it right away. And it often leaves me feeling tired and a bit out of balance, like I'm still catching up with the changing season. And yet, there is something so beautiful about this time. The first signs of spring are showing up. And there is some kind of softness in the air. A shift that you cannot really see, but you can feel it with your whole being. And this March, I've been doing things to take care of myself. And it has really helped me to stay grounded and to keep my head above water. I've also spent a lot of time in my art studio this month. Painting and creating and slowly beginning a new series of artworks. And it has felt so right to just retreat into that space and to stay inside in my own little world for a while, while everything outside slowly begins to melt and change. So in this video, I will share some moments from my days in March, exactly as they have been. Hi everyone! It is raining today. It's the first rain of the spring, I have to say. And that feels so amazing. Even though we're now in the midst of this melting, ugly, slushy period. But the snow is melting. And it's raining. And it feels wonderful. So I'm gonna take a walk to my parents. Me and my mom are working on the new jewelry design. So we're gonna have a little meeting this time of the year. We meet up a few times every week to work on the designs. So I have my computer here. I'm gonna try my football. Oh yeah, it doesn't look that beautiful now. Still a bit stormy. It's been windy for, yeah, like a day now. A day and a night. But I am so happy because rain and strong winds means that the snow is melting quicker. It's not long now until I can put my feet on the ground. And I'm also going to start planting, like pre-planting. Because I am so excited about my garden this year. I'm so, so excited about that. I can't wait to just pour my love into the garden. Okay, now I'm gonna walk for a bit. Hey! Hey, sun! Hey! So during the first months of each year, me and my mom, Anita, always works on new jewelry designs. And this is such a fun and creative period where we get to make reality of visions and ideas that we have. And it is also something that we spend a lot of time on, even though I don't share that much from this process. Since there's not so much to film around it, and I also want to keep a bit of a secret on what we are working on. But several times a week, we sit like this in my mom's working space. And right now, we are working on some really beautiful things that I'm excited to show you later this year. And as I mentioned earlier, I've spent most of my time this month in here, in my beautiful little art studio on the second floor of my house. I just started working on a new series of paintings that will be shown on my new exhibition in our store in Sollefteå this summer. As usual, I like to make a ground on the painting with natural pigments and ash from my stove. But this time, I'm also experimenting with colors that I have never really painted with before. I feel inspired to paint with the colors of the forest. All different kinds of green and earthy tones. And that is like a whole new world to me. And I've spent a lot of time just trying to find the right colors. The light in this room is to die for. It's hard to describe how it feels like when you sit on the ground for the first time after a long, long winter. I wanted to go here for two reasons. First of all, just to get out. Get some sun on my face, even though it's getting cloudy now. And I also just wanted to be in the forest. Because I am right now working on a series of paintings that are very inspired by the forest. And the tones and the colors of the forest. The earthy tones, the green tones. And yeah, just the feeling. The energy of the forest. I'm trying to capture that in paintings. And that is very new to me. I usually paint with very cold tones. A lot of blue. I'm trying to find the right feeling. And I really felt like I need to go to the forest to get some inspiration. Yeah, I really felt that this was the right decision to do. Sometimes, you know, it's so easy to just sit there in the room and get stuck in your head. And you kind of miss the point. You miss the... You think too much. And when I paint, it is all about feeling. I never paint what something looks like to me. I paint what something feels like. And it has been a little bit hard to connect with the feeling of a warm, deep forest when it has been winter. But now I'm definitely getting some feelings of it. So if I succeed with these paintings, you will be able to see them in our store. There will be a new exhibition in the beginning of June. And we're going to have a summer event this year to celebrate one year of the store opening. And I thought maybe it's time already now to share that. So if some of you are coming, you get time to plan that. Now I don't even remember the dates in my head. It was in the middle of July. But I'm gonna write them here. So we will have, yeah, like a little mini celebration during... I think it's a Friday and Saturday. You are very welcome to join. It's getting a little bit chilly already. It was so much warmer in the forenoon. But now it's starting to get windy. And yeah, the ground is a little bit cold. But this was really nice. I feel like I got some inspiration now to bring back home to the art studio. It's Wednesday and I am in the car on my way to Sollefteå. It feels like it's been a little while. It's been over a week since I was there. This time of the year I am usually only in Sollefteå at our workshop once a week. Since I have a lot to work with at home. But it's nice. I like to, you know, have one day a week when I go to the town. And yeah, meet all the others in the team. And get some other kind of work done. I have some coffee. Cheers everyone! It actually feels really nice to go to Sollefteå today. And just do and see something else. Because I've been so deep down my own cave, or how to say. I've been in this creative mood with the painting. But I felt a lot of struggle. So I think I need a little break from my creativity for a while. So it's great to go today and just refresh. That's really how I feel about this thing now. That we have our business in Sollefteå. In the closest town. It is one hour drive there, for those of you who don't know. The good thing is that I can switch between different kinds of moods. Or just different kinds of jobs maybe. What I am doing in Sollefteå is so far away from what I'm doing when I'm home. So usually I work at home with either videos, or paintings, or music. Or whatever kind of creative project. And when I am in Sollefteå, I usually work with more other kinds of tasks. And a lot of planning. And more easy work in a way. It depends on what mood I'm in. It's really interesting because when I have been in Sollefteå too much. I usually feel very empty and drained. Because I feel like I need to go home and be in nature. And create from my soul again. But when I have been at home and been very creative. Maybe worked on a long video. Or created something. Then I can feel like it's really nice to just go to Sollefteå. And do work where I don't have to be creative. I don't have to create anything from within. I can just answer these things. Or write these notes. Or it's very relieving in that way. It depends on what mood you're in. And right now I'm in the mood where I need to feel like I accomplished something. Because I haven't felt that in a long time now. Because I have been painting for maybe a week. But I have not finished one painting. Then this kind of doubt arises. And if you're creative maybe you know what I'm speaking about. I'm gonna continue driving. And the roads right now are actually kind of muddy. It's melting a lot. You can really see that spring is on its way. But it's still some weeks left of snow melting. But every day I see signs of the spring. And that just makes me really happy. Okay, I'll see you in Sollefteå. Hey everybody! Hey hey! We're preparing in the shop here. It's gonna open at 10 o'clock. How nice it's gonna be! Look at this moss here. Now I'm gonna have a little morning meeting. A week meeting. How are you doing today? Linen canvas is delivered. They are really big. They probably won't fit in the car. But maybe Edan's car should fit. You think they will fit in here? Probably good. Thank you! Great! Because I need them. Thank you so much! Look how beautiful! Gorgeous! Wow! There's almost no snow left here. Hello! It's 5 in the afternoon now. And I've been picking up some groceries. And I'm gonna drive home. And I am speechless. Like the weather. It's 13 degrees outside. And almost all the snow has melted here in Sollefteå. Well, there's still big piles of snow. But like the streets and everything. And it's so sunny. And it's like I suddenly just ran into the spring. It is incredible! Look at the street! It does not look like winter anymore. It's been a lovely day today. I feel like I really needed to just get out of my own bubble a little bit. And just do something else. Now I feel like I'm coming back home with some new energy. Some groceries. And that's good because I didn't have much food. And yeah, it's just been a really fun day. Fun day with the team. And there was also this girl coming by our store today. Lauren from Texas. If you see this, I am so happy that you came by our store. You really made my day. I have had so many beautiful meetings with people all over the world throughout this year. Since we opened the store. I'm still like blown away how many traveled really really far to come to see us. Like also just in Sweden. People from south of Sweden traveling. And people from other countries coming by. It just makes me really happy. I'm in the winter again. It is such a difference between Celestion here. Even though it's only one hour away. This is the view from my kitchen window. And look at the sky. Good day everyone. It is another extremely beautiful springy day. Even though it's very windy. And it feels wonderful. I am just cleaning up a little bit in my house. And now I'm going to dig myself through the snow to that little red house there. Because that's where I have some planting tools and some pots and stuff. Because today I am going to pre-plant some kale and salad and stuff. That I'm gonna have for my garden this summer. And I don't know if I'm a little bit too early with doing that. But I have to do it. It just feels like the perfect time. I know I'm gonna be so happy to see these plants growing a little bit each day. And just knowing that spring is on its way. It's so wonderful to be able to walk here through the garden now. In a couple of months there will be plenty of plants growing here. This feels so good. Just feeling this warmth in my face. Hearing the birds. Hearing snow melting. Dripping from the roofs. I'm just gonna sit outside here for a while. And then I'm going to my parents. And I'm gonna cut my mom's hair. I do that like once a year. Just help her cut a little bit. Because tomorrow we are going on a big party in Sollefteå. Our store has been nominated to the attraction of the year in Sollefteå. Every year they have this gala or how to say. Where they celebrate businesses and entrepreneurs. And yeah, so we got nominated. So tomorrow is the party evening. And all of us, the whole team are going there. And my mom as well. I really also have to just prepare. I haven't even decided what to wear yet. I think I could just sit here forever. Harry! Hey! How are you doing today Harry? Welcome to Jonna's hair saloon. How long should I cut it? Maybe like 7 meters? How long do you think it will last? How does this feel? I don't know. I have looked forward this moment so much. Just to get started with some plants. It was a few years ago now. Since I last time had like a garden. Or did some any kind of gardening. So I really really look forward to do that this year. I just want a simple kitchen garden. I want some salad. I want some kale, some potatoes, some carrots. You know, simple things that will last for a long time during the whole summer. And I also don't have any greenhouse. So I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to have like any tomatoes or stuff like that. I'll see how I do with that. But at least just these green things that I can pick every day and have in my salad. I would love that. Good morning my loves. It is Friday and I am in Sollefteå right now. I am on my way to the hotel Halstaberget. That's where the evening is gonna be. The Stjärnkväll. And now during the day we are gonna meet up all of the team. And have like a little mini kickoff for the year. We're gonna go through some events that we're gonna have this year in the store. And yeah, go through some planning. And yeah, just have a good day together. So I really look forward to that. It's gonna be really fun. And then tonight it's the party time. I am still blown away by how much snow has melted here. It's such a big difference from at home. There's like no snow really. Wow, look at this view. It's meant to be a serious meeting. Look at this everyone. This is inspiration for the event we're doing this summer. My first vlog. And my guest today is Joelle. And Jonna. She's an artist. So we first spent half of the day going through our plans of the year. And I just need to say that I'm so deeply grateful to have these people in my life. We are not only working together, but they are also my friends. And to be able to work with a team like this, it's truly a dream. And after a couple of hours, Linnea and Johan from Brantkusten joined us. The interior designer and carpenter that helped us make reality of our store. And it felt so wonderful to have a little reunion again. And then it was time to get ready for the evening. Stjärnkvällen, which means star evening, is a yearly event for businesses and entrepreneurs here in Sollefteå. And our store was nominated to the attraction of the year. And of course, we were all so incredibly happy to be recognized in that way. I think it's such a lovely event. Meeting other entrepreneurs and seeing them celebrated for their work. And also just having fun together, letting go and enjoying the night. And we were all so happy when we got to know that we won the attraction of the year. Thank you with all my heart, Företagarna Sollefteå. And the rest of the night, we just had fun together and celebrated with all the other wonderful people. Hello, everyone. I'm sitting here by the beach, down by the lake, after a really fun and intense weekend. I felt like it was perfect to go down here and make a little fire, drink some tea and just feel the peace. And I also was interested in knowing how much snow has melted here. You can see a little bit of the beach now. I was hoping to watch the sunset from here, because it's really beautiful sunset usually, this way. But as you can see, it's very cloudy and it was actually raining a little while ago. Cheers, everyone. I guess I just wanted to say hi to you all before I say goodbye. Before I end this video. Don't really know what this video is going to be all about, really. I've been filming a little bit throughout the past two weeks, some glimpses here and there. And now it is the 21st of March, which means we are coming closer to the end of this month. And I'm very happy about that. Since, you know, March is, yeah, a tough month of the year for me. But now we're soon through it. And in April, the signs of spring is going to be so much stronger. I think we're going to have an early spring this year as well. Because, yeah, as you can see, so much of the snow has melted. We made it through another winter. I feel like I can say that now. And I'm sitting here now without a jacket. And it's like six o'clock in the evening and it's still quite bright outside. And so, you know, we're getting there. The spring is so very close now. So thank you for walking beside me through this winter. I think I'm gonna sit here for a little while more. But I'm gonna go home again before it gets dark. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you take care of yourself and each other. Because you are important. And I am very grateful that you have spent your time watching my video. It means so much. I will, as usual, be back with a new video soon again. And I'm sending you so much love from the north. See you soon again. Bye-bye!