It's only 10 minutes' ferry ride from Helsinki's city centre to Pihajasasari Island, and visitors leave their visitors to the beaches, trails and rocky shallow playgrounds perfect for sunbathing. But I had a different mission: to speak to the trees.
It was intended to be a therapeutic movement defended by Finnish biologist Adela Pazinen. Finn, she told me, sometimes share their concerns with trees and birds loudly. Sometimes they can even sing to them.
On the coast, I followed a gravel path in search of the perfect tree. I ruled out a few pines before I found a short black outdoor. I began to climb the rocks and convey my sadness to the councillors. Still, I told Alder, I was hoping that I might still be fine. He and I stayed in touch and exchanged voice messages. The alder leaves were murmurs in response, signs I interpreted as sympathy.
I was coming to Finland and seeing if I could bring happiness to America with me. Finland has surpassed the global happiness report for the past eight years. This is a benefit largely attributed to the Nordic welfare state, trust in the government, and public policies such as free education and universal health care. By these standards, living in the US (No. 24 on the list) is actually a recipe for misery. However, Finns also find satisfaction in more achievable ways, such as close relations with nature (74% of the country is covered by forests) and visiting saunas every day (saunas with a population of 5.5 million are 3 million).
Visit Finland, the national tourism bureau, and use Happiness Rankings to seduce travelers. And it seems to be working. Tourism has up to 5 million visitors, starting from approximately 2 million in 2024 in 2022. Last June, he held his second “Inner Fin” masterclass, awarding a winner selected from social media, giving him a free trip to Helsinki, and learning from five locals known as “hacking hackers”, including Paginen and DJ Orchidia.
I didn't take part in the contest, but I liked the idea. Like many other Americans, I have suffered from unhappiness since the hit of the pandemic, sometimes crushing uneasy dreams, feelings of fear, and loneliness. So I sought some advice from the happiness hacker and planned a trip to Helsinki last June, leading it all to the test.
Hackers armed me with a variety of solutions for travel and for use when I returned to the US. Luka Barrack, co-owner of Zero Wast Restaurant Nora, gave me a list of local dishes that connect me to nature (including licorice ice cream and Karelian pie covered in flavourful rye). Rena Salmi spoke about her lively 71-year-old skateboarding and swimming, and her focus is on diving boarding. And ceramic artist Terror Kuitonen suggested doing something, Anythingby hand – read and choose berries, fish, knits. And some people told me to visit the sauna.
Each of these activities included similar goals. We strive for a communal minimalist lifestyle that exists and is dependent on the Earth. Frank Martera, a happiness expert and assistant professor at Aalto University, just outside Helsinki, explained that summer cabins often boast when they don't even have dishwashers or running water.
“It would be almost considered cheating,” he said.
Scandinavian education
Immediately after landing in Helsinki, I dropped my bags at Hotel Fabian and headed to the waterside sauna and restaurant Loyly (which means “steam”). I thought the place was quiet and calm with music. Instead, I came across a large group of Finnish men drinking beer on their swimming trunks.
Like custom, I alternated between frigid wood fired saunas and short stints in the Baltic waters, even in June. Research shows that cold plunges have physical benefits, but Finns view activities as psychomotor. I set a 30-second goal. The water was very chewy so all I could think of was counting at 30. Did it count as continuing to exist? I opposed the chops so I wouldn't own it.
When I showed up, a rush of achievement overcame me. I repeated the circuit twice, but by the time I left I felt a sense of ecstasy, my skin seemed shining and my mind was tidy.
But happiness has come in the waves and valleys over the next few days. While eating the salmon soup recommended by Barrack, I got a hit of different quiet saunas, Ronna and rewind endorphins. I then found myself crying in my hotel room after ruining my shoes in the rain. Have I fallen prey to marketing ploys?
On my last morning I was planning on a 20-minute ferry ride to the sturdy Varizaari Island and taking one last relaxing walk through the forest along the 1.8-mile trail. But when the boat puttered, I began to have panic attacks. “Today is the perfect day to be happy,” a painted wooden sign read, but loneliness and isolation continued midway through the world.
That night I was planning to pound the karaoke bar and test one of the co-dance dances, one of DJ Orchidea's happiness hacks. But I slid into the bed instead. As I wrote in my diary, “Sometimes happiness is a hotel bathrobe, snuggling under the cover.”
Still, I was optimistic that I could recreate the happiest moments of this New York trip, even if I had to become creative. For example, a walk through the forests of Central Park.
Is it really difficult?
America's reality
After all, happiness is luxury in America. I've noticed that most sauna passes in New York cost over $60. As a freelance journalist, I couldn't afford to steam like the Finns. Many of them have access to saunas in their homes and apartment buildings.
However, I finally found a place that offered a reasonable deal in Brooklyn, and on Friday evening I visited a barrel sauna in my backyard, soaking the tub and starting to soak one person's cold plunge. It wasn't Helsinki, but the space was pushed away enough to give it an aura of tranquility.
I wasn't trying to forage for my own food like the Finns, so next tried the best thing: I went shopping at the Farmers Market. I also bought a pot containing basil, thyme, chives and sage plants with the aim of becoming a gardener. Forager Anna Nyman, who lives about 30 minutes from Helsinki city centre, said that he once grew produce and herbs on his balcony so residents of other cities can do it too. “I grew up with watermelons too,” she said.
My kitchen is not exposed to much sunlight, so every morning I carried my small garden to the roof. Some nights I went outside and forgot about it. A summer storm soaked the soil. One night I chopped the basil stems too low, leaving behind barren nuclei. Everything ended up dying and someone threw out the pot.
But overall, things were going pretty well. One afternoon I rushed through Central Park after an emotional therapy session and noticed a swarm of people staring at the ground, so I made a breakthrough. I spurred my eyes on the asphalt. important state matters! I stopped to praise the bird's red feathers before they flaped. This was a victory and I decided on it.
“Simple” discovery
Then in late July the man I was involved in texted me saying he had begun to meet someone. I quickly learned that he actually married.
I tried to guide the Finnish word sisu, meaning perseverance, but my mood fluctuated for several weeks. Sometimes it was just an active nature walk for dopamine to kick in. I also ate almost and cried randomly when I chopped up the tomatoes I drew on a farm that I bought for the purposes of this experiment. Soon, even the sauna no longer lifted my spirit.
One afternoon I was sitting on the beach. When the answer hit me, why nature wasn't feeling good, I was working so hard to live exactly like the Finns. I was so stuck that I missed the point of all the hackers were saying, calming my mind, finding joy in small acts and observations, missing out on flying cardinal inglations and talking to trees. “Simple,” Pajinen said. “This is the heart of what Finns have to offer to other parts of the world.”
One Saturday I wore clothes and walked my dog in Central Park. On a walk near the zoo, I greeted the Linden and Northern Red Oaks in Europe. I felt better soon. But before we moved, I carried out a small but comforting ritual that I had developed. I thanked the tree for listening.
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