Finding my creative voice and seeing the Northern Lights

It has been a while since I wrote here! My last post was on August 1st and in the meantime a lot has happened. Currently my parents are visiting us from the Netherlands and they’ve brought my cats Gizmo and Nels with them. So now our little family is finally complete!





It's so nice to spend some time with my parents. I showed them the area where we live, went to Östersund, searched for moose and my mother kept a close eye on the Aurora app. They’ve taken a liking to the area where we live, but it's also a bit too far away from civilization to their liking. They are right about that, since it's a 1-hour drive to Östersund. But that's the price I pay for living close to nature. After living here for 3 weeks now I can say that living close to nature is very healing. It feels freeing and as if I can breathe again. And so, a spark ignited within me: my creativity.



My head is filled with creative ideas, but not the creativity I thought it would be. I’ve set up my painting supplies in the living room and my drawing tablet is ready to use. But instead of wanting to draw or paint, another part of me has awoken: writing and telling stories. It’s funny how creativity works sometimes. In my earlier years I wrote every day after school. I was busy with writing fanfictions of my favourite series and was also busy writing my own book. Unfortunately, that book has never come to life, but in my head, I’m always creating stories. Storytelling is a part of me and I think that is where most of my creativity comes from. It was always there, but I felt so blocked that I couldn’t get anything on paper. I couldn’t find the right words or motivation. But now it feels different. It is quite healing to pick up activities you had as a child. I feel like I can also express a lot of creativity with blogging.

So currently I have many ideas for photographing and writing. A while ago I tried my hand at vlogging. I’ve had an empty YouTube channel for a while and I thought it was time to create my first vlog. I grabbed my camera equipment and looked for a nice spot in the garden. I was very nervous to vlog myself, but after a few minutes it went okay. I had 37 minutes of footage and I felt satisfied. However, when I started exporting everything on my computer, something went wrong and I lost every footage that I've made. I was extremely frustrated and decided to vlog again immediately. But it didn't go like the first time. I stuttered and I couldn’t find the right words. After the 4th attempt, I had decent footage again, but during editing I still didn't felt satisfied. Sometimes you have an idea in your head, but it won’t match with what you’re currently creating. My current vlog didn’t have the effect I wanted to communicate to YouTube. So my vlog project is now on hold until I have the right inspiration to make something beautiful out of it. Something with perfectionism. But that’s part of the process of my creative journey! Now I have learned a thing or two and that’s where I take my victory in.



In the meantime, I had also gone driving around with my mother looking for moose. Unfortunately, we didn't encounter any moose, but we did get a notification from the Aurora app. It was still very light here in the evening, but we went outside anyway. It was around 23:30 when it was still getting dark. When I looked up at the sky, I saw a kind of light blur. I thought it was something else. The blur remained persistent, while it was getting darker and darker. Eventually I figured out that it wasn't a haze, but the beginning of the Northern Lights.

And then multiple spots and shapes appeared. And those shapes turned into pillars. It was still only visible on the camera of the mobile phone or the camera. But then out of nowhere those blurs, spots and shapes exploded.

The northern lights took my breath away. I had dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights for years. I got a glimpse during a road trip to Denmark with a friend in the autumn of 2021. We were sitting against a rock on the beach in Næsby. The clouds were so bright as if litten up by a full moon. However, when I took my phone, the camera showed the soft green colours of northern lights. The clouds also lit up a bit brighter now and then, but not bright enough to see with the naked eye.





The left picture was taken in Denmark and the right picture in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands it was often showed in the news that there was a possibility to see the Northern Lights. Until in May 2024 I had never managed to see them, but during a heavy solar storm, I was able to capture something on my phone. This time I’ve gotten more clear pictures of the Northern Lights.

But compared with previous times, I could now see the Northern Lights without my phone; green dancing pillars above our house in Offerdal. A phenomenon to see.













To be honest, earlier that day I felt overwhelmed. I’ve had a stable job In the Netherlands which I gave up to pursue my dream. My dream did come true, but in exchange for that I had to let go of my secure job. Now that I live in Sweden, I'll have to create a new source of income and that feels scary. At the moment I have certain ideas about how I could do that, so I’m taking a few courses now. In my ideal world I would make a living as an artist of course and create all day long. Maybe create illustrations and sell them in my own webshop, but I don't know where to start. Now that I rediscovered my passion for writing, I have more opportunities. When I’m writing, the words flow through my fingers so naturally. It makes me want to pursue a career in writing. Perhaps seeing the Northern Lights so soon after our move is a sign that I’m on the right track.

So that’s a wrap: a somewhat long and scattered blog! I hope you enjoyed my blog. I will see you next time!

Lots of love,

Eileen 💕