All
Aboard! "It's Very
Swedish..." a
train on a cultural journey through Sweden, exploring the
differences big and small between American and Swedish culture.
***
I've written about this word before, in my 2012 series, and looking over the comments from that post, I gotta tell you it just makes me smile from ear to ear to see how many of you are still around, listening to me. Thanks, you. I don't want to just give you the post again, but there are some parts I think I nailed, and then I have a "where is she now" perspective.
So, to the past:
Of all the lessons I'm teaching through my postcards, this one is the lesson I've most looked forward to. The word I'm teaching you is probably THE most famously in-translatable word in Swedish.
What word am I talking about? LAGOM.
Pronunciation: la + gum. The la is as in lalalalala I'm not listening. Gum? You chew it.
Translation: This is where it gets tricky. It takes more than just a few words. It takes an entire fairy tale to do the translation justice. Hence the postcard.
In the Goldilocks and The Three Bears story, our heroine explores the house of mama bear, papa bear, and baby bear. Wherever she goes, there is only one of the three choices which satisfies her. Only one of them is “lagom”. I suppose if I had to put a definition on it in just a few words, they would be, “just about right.” Don't you think a word in English with this meaning might be very useful?
Today, I am struggling mightily for a lagom. A balance. A "it's just about right" in how much time I spend on my writing pursuits, and how much time I spend being a wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, aunt, etc.
It's not an easy juggle, even if you have THE right word to describe it. It's no secret that co-hosts of this Challenge are stretched mightily thin with ALL the blogs to visit, blogs in our specific assigned section to mentor, our chosen "jobs" as part of the engine that makes this whole crazy train keep rolling, and then comments we long to return, and emails that keep rolling in.
I love it all. I am a person who thrives on leadership and tasks all lined up, organized, assigned, and checked off the list. However, it's not about me. It's about a huge community event, and sometimes I lose the "lagom" amount that I can realistically do, and try to do it all.
I had a different word for today. It was Lördagsgodis, the Swedish tradition to buy a small bag of candy for your kids on Saturday. The Swede said, "You are writing about lagom, aren't you?" I decided I needed to. Even if it's just a reminder to me that balance, the "just about right" of work, family and fun is what keeps it all moving.
What is your biggest struggle in finding the perfect balance? How do you make it all work?
~Tina, who hopes you're finding the lagom in your life
Today, I am struggling mightily for a lagom. A balance. A "it's just about right" in how much time I spend on my writing pursuits, and how much time I spend being a wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, aunt, etc.
It's not an easy juggle, even if you have THE right word to describe it. It's no secret that co-hosts of this Challenge are stretched mightily thin with ALL the blogs to visit, blogs in our specific assigned section to mentor, our chosen "jobs" as part of the engine that makes this whole crazy train keep rolling, and then comments we long to return, and emails that keep rolling in.
I love it all. I am a person who thrives on leadership and tasks all lined up, organized, assigned, and checked off the list. However, it's not about me. It's about a huge community event, and sometimes I lose the "lagom" amount that I can realistically do, and try to do it all.
I had a different word for today. It was Lördagsgodis, the Swedish tradition to buy a small bag of candy for your kids on Saturday. The Swede said, "You are writing about lagom, aren't you?" I decided I needed to. Even if it's just a reminder to me that balance, the "just about right" of work, family and fun is what keeps it all moving.
What is your biggest struggle in finding the perfect balance? How do you make it all work?
~Tina, who hopes you're finding the lagom in your life
