Greetings from Stockholm, a place so happy and chilled even the graffiti is resolutely positive. I spied this the first day I was here, on a wall by my hotel…
‘The rock bottom is beautiful’
I found this statement really thought-provoking, and as I walked around the pretty cobbled streets of Gamla Stan (the old town) my mind kept drifting back to it, trying to understand how it could possibly be true.
Rock bottom is the lowest place to which we can sink, so how can it ever be considered beautiful?
I thought back to a couple of rock bottoms I’ve experienced - the break-up of my marriage 20+ years ago, and the time (not long after) that I got dropped by my first publisher and lost my source of income overnight - a terrifying prospect for a newly single mother.
It was hard to find anything beautiful about either of these times at first, but as I walked past the beautiful buildings of Gamla Stan I thought of what both these rock bottoms had led to.
The break-up of my marriage led to a beautiful relationship with a wonderful man who restored my trust and faith in love, and to this day remains one of my very closest friends.
And being dropped by my first publisher led to me training as a life coach, becoming an editor, running two weekly writing workshops in London for six years, creating a beautiful and vibrant community of artists and creatives and lifelong friendships.
Rock bottoms not feel beautiful in the moment but in my experience and with the benefit of hindsight, they can lead to some truly beautiful things.
Perhaps the secret to happiness lies in our ability to reframe things. And it doesn’t have to be as extreme as reframing rock bottom as a thing of beauty. It can be as simple as reframing our everyday disappointments as opportunities.
This is something I’ve had to do this week in Stockholm. I was meant to be here to meet up with a friend I met travelling last year but at the last minute he wasn’t able to come (Top tip: it turns out that some countries won’t allow entry if your passport expires within six months of your visit!)
We’d been looking forward to this trip for months so when I boarded my plane I felt a little flat to say the least.
But then we took off and the plane soared through the clouds to this…
And as I gazed at the view I was reminded yet again of what a magical world we live in.
And when we landed I was reminded of what a beautiful and chilled out country Sweden is. I cleared passport control (even with my non EU British passport) and picked up my baggage within 15 minutes! Twenty minutes later, the Arlanda Express had deposited me in the heart of the city, and five minutes after that I was in my hotel room.
The next day I went exploring, and found the perfect cafe to write in, with cinnamon buns and brew coffee on tap, and I had a look online for events I could go to.
As luck would have it there was a writers meet-up happening that evening in a Stockholm suburb. So I hopped on the Metro after work and ended up in a lovely restaurant, feasting on fish tacos and meeting some lovely Swedish writers.
In a serendipitous twist, the guy sitting next to me was also a digital nomad so we ended up exchanging travel tales and talking all about how much we’re loving this way of living. At the end of the night we exchanged numbers and I walked back to the station with a real spring in my step.
Within 24 hours my unexpectedly solo trip to Stockholm had resulted in me having a top night out and gaining a new friend.
I’m writing this to you on Thursday, three days into my trip, and I'm happy to report that I’m having the best time here.
I’ve met some lovely people, seen some beautiful sights, and my writing is flowing - and all because I reframed the disappointment of my friend not being able to make it into an opportunity for an adventure. And we have now rescheduled our meet up, so I’ll be back here again soon!
Life is how we choose to see it.
Rock bottom can be beautiful.
And disappointments, opportunities.
Until next week
Siobhan
Such a great reminder of how disappointments and low points in our lives that may seem unbearable but we know do eventually pass on and redirect us to better opportunities and experiences! The way we look at it makes all the difference. So nice that you met another digital nomad to connect with and be able to share experiences together😊
Have a great week!
Good morning Siobhan. 'Rock bottom is beautiful' Thankyou.
Love receiving your Sunday posts, and the connection to writers and like minded souls coming via Substack.