Bjorn himself, walking through the woods of Norway…
Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen is a Norwegian novelist and You Tuber who regularly drops 10-15 minute pearls of wisdom on us eager netizens. He recently uploaded a video where he discusses how some of the good people of Norway have been losing their ever-loving shit over the fact that Trump has won the U.S. presidential election. So much so, that folks have been calling mental health hotlines in desperate need of services. Let me make this clear: people are not calling because they are in general need of mental health help. No, they are calling because Trump has won the election and they are experiencing breakdowns…in Norway! It was a pretty short video, just over 10 minutes long. But he makes a rather simple suggestion: get a hobby.
And you know what? He’s right.
People are so lost in the lives of others that they don’t know where they begin and the outside world ends. Many folks cannot tell you exactly what is truly theirs. For example, how many people will stop to meditate on the talents, gifts, skills, and blessings they possess in their lives? Skills, for instance, that when performed, brings not just a state of bliss, but more importantly, a state of equilibrium? A state where your heart rate feels calm, your eyebrows aren’t knitted, and the world around you becomes not only quieter, but blurred even. For me, equilibrium is like a state of truth. A flowing, easy-going truth. I can speak on the collage art I create, the books I bind, the dresses I sew, or where ever my creativity takes me and the words just stream naturally. I speak about those things as easily as I say my name.
My new journal that I’ll be sharing pages to…
How I feel about the election results, or for that matter Trump, becomes out of focus. As large as the election result are, the connections I make as an artist and seller are much larger to me. And while I don’t consider my art to be a hobby, but a way of life and a way to make a living, it kinda started that way when I was a child where my creativity was first taking shape. We all need that something that brings us to such a state. We need it for us, as autonomous human beings. It makes us whole.
The, mostly digital, world marches and encroaches on our lives like virtual slow moving lava flow. But we do nothing to create a barrier for it. We treat it like actual lava, feeling doomed to our fate. The world around us does indeed matter. But must it be the complete story? If I do that, I lose. I lose me. The world of politics, social media, and norms is like a fickle teenager. I really don’t have the energy to change, chameleon-like, to the various whims around me. But neither should you give it so much of your precious power. Finding my state of equilibrium has actually turned out to be much easier, and way more rewarding. Do your own thing, and find the balance you deserve.
