Since a majority of the posts on this blog describe finnishness as a lovely and important issue for them, I decided to write from a different point of view.
I think finnishness is not something automatically pure and valuable we should all respect from the start of our lives. It is also not something simple or similar to every citizen of Finland. There might be some beautiful virtues that are seen good and healthy for a person to have. But mostly I think that they are just that – virtues. There definitely is this part of Finns who always show up early, are shy or at least polite, want to work hard for their families and who never give up in their life. Accuracy, shyness, diligence and “sisu” – sounds so “Finnish”, right? But that’s not the case with all the people in our country.
Probably I’m having this point of view because I can’t see myself in many of the basic Finnish virtues. I’m pretty much always late (or almost late) everywhere, I would not consider myself shy or as official as many people in Finland are. I don’t truly like to work hard with any matter or I’m certainly not as “sisukas” as we Finns are always described to be. I even don’t want a family, or a summer cottage, a dog, a boat, or a children-friendly house from a calm area. So here is the problem; I’m an authentic Finn, but I’m not _the kind of Finn_ which our cultural virtues and expectations would want me to be. I’m still a real Finn and totally thankful that I was born in this welfare country. I can relate to several things too, the love of nature is something I’ve always shared with many people.
Finnishness is a same thing as who we Finns are. And we are all so different. Surely I recognize the differencies we have compared with other cultures and of course I know there are similarities between people in Finland on a large scale. But I want to point out that finnishness is a wide concept and it’s also changing all the time. New generations make it different. Immigrants and refugees make it different. People who live outside the box make it different. I have the courage to say that I am making it different. I have travelled a lot, and I’m going to travel more this year. During every encounter with people abroad I’m changing the idea of finnishness in the eyes of foreigners. I also think (and hope) that the idea of finnishness is changing in the eyes of Finns too. Someday the idea will be more wide, vivid and laid-back. It may still include the virtues of today, but it will also recognize the people who don’t fit into the picture.
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