I never knew that white could come in so many colors.
It’s one of the many things I’m learning in Lapland surrounded by snow.
I’ve observed that late in the morning
fluffy white mounds turn lavender under orange sunrises.
That sheets of white ice absorb a royal blue overlay
just before the darkness of night.
That intermittent bouts of sunshine or the warm glow of street lamps
allow the flecks of each snowflake to sparkle.
I’m learning that I can transform my color too.
That beyond my ideas of black and white
lies a spectrum of shades
expanding as I surrender myself to the whiteness of winter.
Like the nickname that’s followed me since childhood
I am a Chameleon among these fields of white.
Ever adapting, despite how foreign I may appear.
Listening to the cues of nature, I’m adjusting the way that I exist in this world.
I’m learning to feel beautiful despite wearing sixteen layers of clothes.
I’m learning to broaden my tolerance for temperature
as I sweat in a sauna and swim in an ice lake.
I’m learning to open my allowance for enjoyment
as I fall in love with snow shoeing, dog sledding, and alpine skiing.
I’m learning to reassess my ideas of what it means to be healthy
as I sleep into the late morning, use reindeer milk skin cream, and eat enormous plates of wild meat.
I’m learning what it means to respect nature
as I hike through blizzards in the middle of the night, catch fish from an ice hole, and grill animal flesh over an open fire.
In the presence of fishermen and hunters and reindeer herders
I’m reconsidering my ideas about what it means to live in harmony with the natural world.
By experiencing and allowing a different way of living, a different way of traveling
I’m opening to the different possibilities of being.
I’m reminded that there is not one way to live.
There is not one way to love.
There is not one way to honor and respect this Earth.
And to my own amazement and gratitude
these differences don’t leave me asking “who am I”.
Instead they remind me that… I am.
Because the more that I accept the differences in others, the more I accept myself
understanding that I can only see a color if it first exists within my own mind.
Fifty shades of white.
Showing me a whole new spectrum
of my capacity
for love and light.
A change of venue, seems to be agreeing with you…
Expansion 🙂
Wow! You are incredible at expressing yourself and that fact that you are speaking of my own home country makes it even better. You should also visit Norway if you have the chance, the fjords there are amazing. Good luck!
Aw thank you so much! Yes I definitely want to come back and go to Norway!
So pleased to read this!
🙂
Absolutely stunning photos!!! Did you take them all yourself?
Thank you! yes I take all of my own photos, with the exception of the one of me hugging the tree, taken by my friend with my camera 🙂
What a great contrast! Adapting + accepting everything around you in a strong quality, and it is agreeing with you 🙂 Winter is definitely loaded with brilliant colors and you have captured that so purely! Amazing photos my dear!
Thank you so so much darling <3
Blue moment, always so magical. Beautiful photos. It is good to see your journey into your own being, you are really opening 🙂 wonderful thing.
Thank you <3 I looovvvee the blue moment! And all the other moments too 🙂
That was beautiful, Camille. So glad to see this trip, move, whatever, seems to be exactly what you needed. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you so much!
Beautiful!!
thank you 🙂
hi. new reader. maybe i’m late to the party, but what happened to costa?
Lol, no worries, I’m now in Finnish Lapland. Spending the winter in Europe. CR is still my home and my love though 🙂
Hi! Thanks for your blog. It’s just so inspirational! I’m a stay at home mom of two little boys from northern Finland and right now visiting my in-laws at Salla
Lovely picuters indeed!
the one I woud leava out is the plate with the reindeer meal. It looks like a puppy dog on a plate 🙁
LOL!
Oh my comment was cut short… I was saying that your blog makes me remember that the whole world is still out there to discover and experience but at the same time makes me appriciate my life here. Makes me not to take things for granted so much.
Thank you Katri, that is beautiful <3 Please enjoy Salla, many of these pictures are from there 🙂
I would never have the courage to support all that cold… so I’m glad I can have all your wonderful photos. Thank you for sharing.
Have a great time Camille ! You deserve it
Hehe, thank you Vitor!
Camille, You have a beautiful way of seeing beauty in everyday life. You are inspiring and I am reminded how a change of scene, big or small, can awaken the soul to greater depths!
Thank you!
Love from not-so-cold Seattle:)
Thank you so much Jill <3
Hi! Oh so lovely pictures and unique atmosphere you have catched in your pictures Camille. I feel that you’ve really enjoyed your visit in Salla 🙂 You are warmly wellcome again. Brg mayor Erkki.
Thank you 🙂 I really did enjoy my time!! Stay tuned for my guide to Lapland I’ll be posting soon with lots of info on my experiences in Salla 🙂
Gorgeous photos again. Sun and white snow can have huge amount of color variations depending the position of the sun. Clouds normally with sun gives the best result.
Thank You for this post. Happy weekend!
Thank you, yes it’s amazing how these photos can be as colorful as Caribbean beaches 🙂
Hi Camille,
If you consider to come to Helsinki still, it would be a joy to meet you in a cafe.
Warm Greetings.
Jari
It’s been amayzing and sort of eye-opening to read your posts from Finland (to me as a Finn, that is). So familiar and so strange at the same time. This one also reminded me of the beaty of Lapland which I seem to have forgotten after a few years not visiting there. I’m going later this year though and now I can’t wait! Thank you so much. You have such a talent for passing on the atmosphere with your words and photographs. Keep on your great work:)
Thank you so much, I’m touched by your comment. So much more from Lapland I still have to post 🙂
I like this post very deeply, especially two things hit me in the soul. Sentence ” Because the more I accept…and Who Am I”.
That has been going in my mind for a long time and sometimes it just reveals itself when other person is telling it.
So thank you 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂
What a cool journey. I know nothing about Lapland so this is so fun to read about. Beautiful pictures!
Awesome thank you! More on Lapland to come!!
Love it! Looking those incredible photos makes me miss the winter what we used to have at home, in Estonia. Couple of last winters we’re lack of snow, unfortunately. Glad that you enjoyed your time in there. 🙂
Thank you! Stay tuned my blog post with all of my recommendations for Lapland is coming soon 🙂
I’ll immediately take hold of your rss feed as I can’t in finding your email subscription link or e-newsletter service.
Do you’ve any? Please let me recognise so that I could subscribe.
Thanks.
Hey Zenaida yes I do have a newsletter subscription! I’ll link you right here: http://eepurl.com/SDLHz