It’s been another eventful week at the new place! I went back to work (the commute is even better than I had expected), hosted my next short story fika, met up with a friend from Stockholm, and went to a Christmas market in Gamla Uppsala.

‘Being Human’

We had this fika at Leijon in Rosendal. My idea is to maybe try a new cafe each time, to explore different parts of the city. We had a very nice group of four people with great takes on each story and fascinating life experiences to share. The stories we discussed this time were:

• The Egg by Andy Weir
• The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley
• They’re Made out of Meat by Terry Bisson

It’s funny how even with some very simple stories, the discussions always veer into new and interesting directions, and people make all sorts of creative connections. Even when talking about being made out of meat.

The kinds of connections we deduce from even the simplest stories really highlights for me how instinctively we try to find meaning in things. I do it, too. Whenever I have to experience something hard or painful, I instinctively jump to trying to find some meaning in that thing - like if it means something, it’ll feel better. The why, I guess. And there’s often a kind of oscillation between meaning-finding and questioning your own meaning-finding: “What if it doesn’t mean anything? What if it never did? What if I’m just flesh and blood, surviving as a flash in the pan of the universe?”

But the meaning I always come back to, that is always present and infallible, is that of learning. Every experience is one we have no choice but to learn from. And learning is always meaningful.

Next week’s fika story is going to be about a fox that learned how to ‘speek Yuman’!

Historisk Julmarknad på Gamla Uppsala

After the short story fika a friend came over from Stockholm for second fika and to talk a bit about self-publishing. After that we went over to the historical Christmas market at Gamla Uppsala. My friend lived in Uppsala for years before moving to Stockholm, so he was the perfect person to explore with since he knew all kinds of spots and history of the place.

Jag köpte några traditionella snacks till glöggfesten som jag ska gå på imorgon på julmarknaden. Jag köpte också den här mjöden för att testa:

Sedan gick vi runt gravhögarna, kollade på kyrkan, och träffade några valpar!

Something about these houses right on the edge of the mounds is a little surreal. I can imagine it feeling like living on the cusp of something magical - where the world fragments a little:

We also checked out the Gamla Uppsala museum:

And the old church! The church had this… bead collection. They were very nice beads, but I was not expecting this slightly New Agey crystal vibe!

It’s been an eventful Saturday. But the fun isn’t over: tomorrow I’m off to a friend’s house for a Glögg party!