Midsummer’s Eve has a special place in the Finnish summer tradition. It takes place in June, always around the summer solstice, and it’s a celebration of light and summer – which of course both are in short supply during most of the year.

The Midsummer’s Night can be magical, as this is the time of the year with lots of daylight and in many parts of Finland the sun won’t set at all. While traditions can vary from region to region, most Finns will have Midsummer’s sauna and then there will be dinner and celebrations among family and friends.

I’m celebrating Midsummer once again in Hanko, on the southernmost tip of Finland, at Villa Maija. As Midsummer’s Eve is approaching its end, I thought it would be appropriate to express some thoughts of gratitude.

This year has been really weird with the COVID-19 pandemic having caused a lot of misery globally. On top of that there’s been all kinds of other crazy things happening all over the world. I’m extremely grateful that nobody in my family has been seriously sick due to the coronavirus and the same goes for my closest friends too.

I know there are many around the world who have not been as lucky as we’ve been and my thoughts are with them. Let’s hope for the best – and do our best – so that we can overcome this crisis as soon as possible and avoid having a devastating second wave of the coronavirus in the autumn.

Speaking of family, that is something I’m also very grateful for. Having people around you that understand, support, and love you (no matter what) is incredibly important and an outright blessing. I just wish I could be better in expressing my own feelings of love and gratitude towards them.

I’m grateful for living in a stable, democratic, and fair country like Finland, where a lot of things (much more than we usually give credit for) are in good order and most people, including the politicians, really strive to increase our collective well-being.

I’m grateful for having the opportunity to work with smart and fun colleagues in an interesting and challenging field. Again, COVID-19 has been hard on many industries and I consider myself extremely lucky to be working at OpenOcean in times like these.

And finally, I’m grateful for having a place like Hanko and Villa Maija, where I can both relax but also do meaningful things, and hopefully be at least of some assistance for the bed & breakfast business of Villa Maija.

Wishing everybody a happy, safe, and relaxing Midsummer!