January: All about the New Hobbies...
My dearest friend often tells me that my anxiety could be cured with 'Scandinavian Prosac' aka learning to knit or keep my hands busy. I love to dance, write, hike, do yoga, paint, rock-hunt but I don't know much about knitting or crocheting. I wish I did, but while my grandma was teaching the other girl cousins, I was riding the lawn mower with grandpa and picking berries outside.
I had far more interest in chasing snakes, collecting bugs, carving trees, smashing pennies on the train tracks and helping grandpa in the garage to build something cool. I loved eating grandma's food, but as a young girl, I didn't feel comfortable inside. Home, for me, was not a safe intimate space and so I felt more free outside.
The small details, sitting somewhere in a quiet moment, seems like torture. However, I'm trying. One recent treasure was helping her complete fun, holiday treasures that she calls, Tomkins. The Tomkin is a cute Swedish man that reminds me of the gnomes and creatures my dad keeps on his dresser mantle; some Jim Hensen fantasy character. Cute little hats, imaginary eyes, long beards and no body. Easy to make, cute to create and easy to enjoy.
Hand-sewing little felt bodies, tufted beards and little bead or molded noses wasn't torture.
Synchronicity would have it that later that day, I was reading about the Santa's all over the world. Brushing up on the details of my own elaborate SANTA story that I tell my children, had me exploring Swedish Elementals, gnomes and the Tomte.
A nisse (Danish: [ˈnesə] Norwegian: [²nisːe]), tomte (Swedish: [²tɔmːtɛ]), tomtenisse or tonttu (Finnish: [tontːu]) is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is generally described as being no taller than 90 cm (35 in), having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour. They often have an appearance somewhat similar to that of a garden gnome (which are also called trädgårdstomte in Swedish, havenisse in Danish, hagenissein Norwegian and puutarhatonttu in Finnish).
I had far more interest in chasing snakes, collecting bugs, carving trees, smashing pennies on the train tracks and helping grandpa in the garage to build something cool. I loved eating grandma's food, but as a young girl, I didn't feel comfortable inside. Home, for me, was not a safe intimate space and so I felt more free outside.
The small details, sitting somewhere in a quiet moment, seems like torture. However, I'm trying. One recent treasure was helping her complete fun, holiday treasures that she calls, Tomkins. The Tomkin is a cute Swedish man that reminds me of the gnomes and creatures my dad keeps on his dresser mantle; some Jim Hensen fantasy character. Cute little hats, imaginary eyes, long beards and no body. Easy to make, cute to create and easy to enjoy.
Synchronicity would have it that later that day, I was reading about the Santa's all over the world. Brushing up on the details of my own elaborate SANTA story that I tell my children, had me exploring Swedish Elementals, gnomes and the Tomte.
A nisse (Danish: [ˈnesə] Norwegian: [²nisːe]), tomte (Swedish: [²tɔmːtɛ]), tomtenisse or tonttu (Finnish: [tontːu]) is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is generally described as being no taller than 90 cm (35 in), having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour. They often have an appearance somewhat similar to that of a garden gnome (which are also called trädgårdstomte in Swedish, havenisse in Danish, hagenissein Norwegian and puutarhatonttu in Finnish).
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