Finnish Moon - 11.6.22

Hello...and there goes November!

Every time I go to write my next newsletter it feels as though it's been a blink of an eye since the last, and yet so much has happened.

This month I have had the amazing experience of spending 10 days in Finland and Denmark on tour with my papa and other amazing musicians. It was an unforgettable time filled with new experiences and new ideas being born out of the fun being had. The shorter days, the colder temperatures, the grey landscapes stretching out underneath an unrelenting low blanket of clouds. The incredible Finnish language, to which I've never heard anything remotely similar and of course the wonderful people all along the way. No worries however, because you'll get to go along with me on that adventure soon enough in the next video I have in the works... and speaking of videos, I just posted part two of 'ten days on tour in france'! So if you enjoyed part one, or missed it all together, please go watch this one!

It's up on my channel now!

I can't explain how amazed and grateful I am at the encouraging response I have had to my first video. All I can say is thank you, and that I am so, so ready to dive in deeper than ever and learn more and more as I go!

I just finished this one and I'm going to start right away on the next, not to mention all the ideas I have for upcoming projects I can't wait to share with you all. So let's start here with dispatch number four...

Reunited (Frederikshavn, Denmark) - 11.12.22

Observations On Connection

Yesterday I saw Monet’s Nymphéas. An experience I have long awaited and find magical simply in its possibility. However, as beautiful and awe-inspiring as the paintings were, they are not what I hold most vividly in my memory. When I tell you what I saw I hope you understand how I felt standing in these softly lit, elliptical rooms surrounded by the perfect colors and essence of flowers and water captured. And I hope it makes you think.

When I say as many people had their backs turned to the art as were facing it, what do you imagine? And when I add that even the people facing it were not looking at it, do you understand? Do you know what had their attention? You weren’t able to view the paintings in their wholeness because countless people were standing right in front of them as though they had been created to be backdrops for an instagram photoshoot. They would pose and fake-laugh for the phone and you could tell they had planned their outfit to match the color scheme of the masterworks so it would look good on their feed. Then when their friend hands them back their phone they walk around with their head down going through the pictures just taken. I wondered, why be here just to turn your back on the beauty around you and turn your attention toward documenting you were there? But, evidently, to take in the presence of the art wasn’t the purpose they had in coming. Their purpose, whether they would admit to it or not, was to get the perfect picture for social media. I do not begrudge these people their instagram accounts, tiktoks, reels, facebook posts and follower counts. I mean, look what I’ve been doing with my time and energy as of late… However I do wonder what this means for us. What this means for art and for connection.

As humans, we show best with our actions what is most important to us. So what should we make of the fact a lot of what we spend our time doing, saying and acting like nowadays, is for our phones instead of for ourselves and the people around us? I do not have the answer to this question, none of us do considering we’ve barely even scratched the surface of this unprecedented experiment; but as with most things I don't believe it's all good or bad. Some days I only see the negatives and it makes me wish I lived at a time before all this was invented, but most days I see both sides of this crazy coin and struggle trying to weigh the good against the bad to come to a conclusion. Right now the best any of us can do is find ways we can cultivate doing and participating in what makes us feel good and creates authentic connection to ourselves and the world. For me, it's been small things like going places without my phone, instead of taking a picture for a memory, focusing on the way I feel in the moment itself, and ironically considering the nature of this writing piece, practicing observation without judgement, for others as much as myself. I hope that in this time of constant and overwhelming connectivity, we are all able to, in whatever way that may be, connect with the world each day in a meaningful way.

Season's First Snow (Vaasa, Finland) - 11.5.22

Found And Lost (Turku, Finland) - 11.8.22

Final Night (Frederikshavn, Denmark) - 11.12.22

Here we are at the end again, the end of this message, the end of the month and approaching the end of the year. I hope that as we begin to turn from a season of harvest to one which encourages time spent fallow, you are cozying up with something to warm your body and your soul. I have been drinking lots of tea and recently pulled out some of my favorite poetry to revisit; the best things when you feel that

wintry chill creeping in...

Thank you for reading this month's ponderings and I hope that perhaps you might also watch my new video and check out my photo gallery (I'm always adding new pictures). If you enjoy receiving these monthly slices of my life and projects please share with others, and if you're new here, by all means please join the family by sending me a message on my website. ...And lastly, in the spirit of the season of gratitude and speaking straight from my heart, I am so infinitely grateful for all of you.

-Elsa<3