Ljus

Light, a source of power and energy, the possibility for us humans to see the world around us, and for me in general one of the most amazing things in life. Not only has light a big impact on our mood and health, the word itself has many meanings especially in relation to our positivity and motivation within us. The Swedish word for this amazing phrase is “ljus” and will probably, just as in the German and English language, be one of my favorite words.

So, today I will talk about light. Okay, maybe it sounds a little basic but there are so many things that come along with that topic. So I think it is really important to write an extra reportage about it.

I got the idea for this post two weeks ago when, at the end of an already wonderful weekend with a Bandy game, a little lobbies tour, climbing with the other volunteers, horse riding, and so much more adventures, we actually got to see northern lights (Swedish norrsken). It was a really unique experience to see such a rare miracle of nature – and this so close to where we live (still pretty far south) and in October!!! We went to a beach at the ocean close to Gävle in order to have the highest chance to see the polar lights without any distracting lightning around us. And after about half an hour of staring at the northern sky something started to happen: green light appeared at the clear black night sky!

In this moment I felt pure happiness. It was always my dream to see it but since it is a really rare astronomical phenomena the chances are mostly pretty low. The northern lights appear after collisions of gases in the earths atmosphere with charged particles. The energy that is send out when those collide is seen by us as colorful flashes what together makes the famous polar lights. Caused by the solar storms on the surface of the sun the particles come closer to earth and start this spectacle. Although it is a process that happens constantly you need enough hours of darkness, no light pollution and a little luck to catch the perfect day, even when you are far in the north. We were so lucky to be at the right place and the right day so that we got to see the green glow, that is actually not as bright when you watch it with your eyes as it appears in the camera. But still, I`m so grateful for this moment, and the whole weekend in general, for which reason I wanted to do a special report about all of it today.

But besides only talking about the northern lights I also need to talk about the sun hours around here. Since it is almost December, the month with the shortest days, and the weather is often rainy and cloudy, sun light is getting a rare thing around here. Right now the sun comes up at around 8am and goes down at 3pm. It still seams like quite a lot of daylight but it actually is a new experience. I`m just really glad that we work in the afternoons so it makes not that much of a difference what time the sun is going down. But especially at the weekends it is difficult to get used to it.

But on the other side it also is really cozy. Since the people here are so used to it there is so much light in the streets but also in everyone`s windows what makes me also really excited for Christmas. You walk around town and it feels like people have already decorated for the Holidays although it is only their usual lightning. So, because of all that I don`t have any problems cause by the few sun hours yet. But I don’t want to play down the problems some people have because of that, getting depressed during this dark season really is something a lot of people struggle with here in the north.

And I think that really supports the thesis I talked about at the beginning of this post. Light, especially natural light, brings motivation, optimism, and a good life quality. Because of that we often use these phrases in connection to positivity and happiness. And my face still lightens up every single time I think about all my adventures here in Sweden!

Now it is time for you guys to get some light in your day, whether it is sunlight or a little smile. I hope you were interested in the topic and learned something from this little reportage. Now it is time for me and the other EU volunteers to go to Stockholm for our arrival training. But about all that I will update you all soon! For now, I wish you a wonderful day with lots of light!