What Makes a Finn Happy?

There is nothing an introverted melancholy Finn likes better than trying to figure out the meaning of life. I have even looked up "the meaning of life" on google. Today I found what makes me happy in a list on Virtual Finland. Lists make me happy.

Finnish feel-good factors
1. Home sweet home, a home of one's own
2. Sunny weather
3. An honest relationship
4. A trusting relationship
5. The freedom to be oneself
6. A freshly cleaned home
7. Friendship, gestures/words in a relationship
8. Friendship, actions in a relationship
9. Fidelity in a relationship
10. Security in a relationship

The explaination of each of those was right. I feel just like the author says, " It never takes long in a country where people on the whole lack a small-talk culture, but are ever ready to open a seminar on "Why are we here, where are we going?"

So why are we here, I ask? Where ARE we going? I need to find another Finn to discuss this with. He Who Must Be Obeyed is Norwegian and they know why they are here and where they are going and they do not like to waste time talking about it.

"Instead of materialism we're in for more relationships, but not before number six, which is a freshly cleaned home." Deep meaningful relationships and a clean house are everything.

We Finns "are obviously content with simple, honest pleasures such as the smell of newly washed laundry, falling in love or walking in the countryside.

The first direct reference to money appears at number nineteen and it is that great feeling: "there's more money in my account than I remembered". It is true. I taught school for twenty years and never really cared how much money I made. My paycheck was direct deposited and I never knew what I was earning.

Joe Brady who wrote for Virtual Finland got it right. Maybe now we should have that discussion on The Meaning of Life.