Changing World

Lately I’ve noticed several signs that the world is changing. Now it is widely known, that once you set your focus on a certain theme or case, you start noticing relevant stories, products or information on just that. That might just be the case here, but since I find it fascinating it is worth writing about.
It’s probably 20 years since I first heard about how the generation that’s just starting their careers and how they would change the patterns of working and thinking in the world. After I became a mother, I noticed that more and more children were born with challenges that were not known and definitely not understood when I was a kid. ADHD and related diagnoses have flourished; every other kid has some sort of allergy or intolerance that no one had heard of 20 years back. These children need their parents, and generally their whole environment, to adapt to them, instead of vice versa.
Being Icelandic, I’ve followed the financial and political crises there closely. Now, several months into the “crises” more and more people seem to be realizing that all of this might be an opportunity to create something new and better for our societies. Maybe racing challenging children has helped us to learn how to adapt to new and surprising situations?
I think it is a pleasure to be able to follow in on new philosophies in marketing, in religious systems, changes in the way we work, read, listen to music, appreciate our families, communicate and look at the world. I do believe that we are still to see big changes in our consumption, and it seems to me that we’re finally realizing that it gives more pleasure to produce things, and to work with things that are rewarding on a personal plane.
With all of this said, it’s probably in its place to add, that I’ve not noticed the financial crises personally, and neither do I know anyone that has felt it hard in their life’s here in Norway.
I’m excited to see what the years to come will bring us! What do you think life will be like in 5 – 10 - 20 years?

Why be bored?

I remember from my own childhood feeling that time went really slowly, and it seemed like an eternity between Christmases and between summer holidays. I remember many occasions when I had no idea what do with my time, and how to deal with being bored. It could be days at a time, that I’d have to figure out what to do. Having had parents that were fairly busy with other things I usually made myself some sort of a project and those were my own, and I learned a lot from them. And still the days were an eternity, and the years were so long they didn’t seem to have any end to them (and of course everyone over 20 was OLD).
I suppose that when we grow up, and get jobs and families, maybe several friends and hobbies, having money to spend and a home to tend to, most people don’t have the time to be bored. Maybe that is just a part of being a grown up? Perhaps we just find ways to avoid being bored all together, I mean… after all it is boring, so why bother?
However, over the last few months I’ve made an interesting observation. Being the mother of 3 children, I’d expect them to be bored once in a while.
I’m sure you’ve guessed that I rarely observe this with them. So I decided to discuss this with them, and not only have they informed me that they feel they’re almost never bored, but what was more strange to me, my 10 year old has commented on several different occasions that she feels the weeks go by so fast, and that a year really seems like a short time.
Why on earth is this? I wonder. I discussed this with a friend of mine the other day, and he told me he remembers his father telling him “you have to learn to be bored”. I remember hearing several grownups say it’s healthy to be bored, because that’s when you get creative. If this is true, are we running out of new ideas, or are they coming from somewhere else than the grate wasteland of Boredom? Maybe they now grow in the Bore domain?
So what do you figure? Why aren’t we bored anymore? Or are you bored, and what do you do about it then? Are we missing out on anything, or have we developed out of it, sort of like what happened with the appendix? I’d love to know.

Looking on the bright side

I am a somewhat regular guest at the community swimming pool. I find swimming to be a refreshing activity that can be quite social and rewarding for my body and mind. Lately the wardrobes have been under renovation, so that access to sauna’s that are in the shower area has been limited. In an effort to pleas most of the users, men and women have had access to the one wardrobe that is finished on different days, so that everyone can use the sauna 3 days every week. The remaining days, people have had to use wardrobes belonging to a sports center that is located in the same building. All of this has resulted in me getting to see what the new wardrobes look like, and at the same time feel the difference between the old and the new.
I have to tell you people, I am amazed! Not only has the renovation taken twice as long as promised, and no one seems to know when it will be finished, but the results are out of this world. In fact, I’d guess as far as back to the times of the first moon landing. The new wardrobes have gotten all new linoleum, and that’s it! Old and ugly lockers that are hard to close after being bumped and slammed for 40 years, no place to put your make-up or hair products as you get ready to leave, old and energy consuming hairdryer (yes, one is enough for the population of 50.000). BUT, it seems that there will be to different saunas in both men’s and woman’s shower areas, and they ought to be in tip to shape and up to date one would think. Well, they are hard to use, as they are uncomfortable to climb up to, even impossible for older people or anyone who has bad back or legs. There are metal peaces sticking out, both structural and screws, making it easy to get burned, as the metal warms up a lot in a sauna.
I cannot imagine how all of this is possible. And I’m not too eager to be so understanding about all this either. At least it is obvious that whoever planed this “makeover” does not use the pool, has not considered the average user, or asked anyone with experience of doing makeovers of this sort on advice. In my town as most places in Norway, many of the tradesmen have less to do than they used to, so there shouldn’t be any reason for this renovation to take forever to finish. And it would be ideal when the times are getting tougher, if the local council would do what they could to keep up the spirits among the population by supporting everything that is healthy and might keep the citizens active. So if anyone from Sarpsborg town council would stumble upon my blog, here are my advices:
1. Keep the pool open for the general public more than 3-4 hours a day.
2. Keep it open on Sundays, as swimming is excellent activity for families.
3. Finish the renovation, and do a proper job at it within 2 weeks.
4. Join forces with the users of the pool and the employees to find out how to give best service, and how to better the offer given to the general public.
5. Market all the free or affordable services that are available, and that can help keep up the health and the sprits in general. (Library, pool, Ice-skating, arts and so on)

So what about this headline then? Is it all about pretending to be optimistic and then wining and griming? No, not completely.
What I really appreciate about this situation in particular is:
· I really look forward to the day this renovation is finished.
· It makes me appreciate the swimming pools in Iceland and the service around them even more.
· It makes it easier for me to believe that the city council isn’t wasting the tax payer’s money on unnecessary luxury makeovers.
· It becomes so obvious for me how much I have learned about customers, development, service, marketing, processes, design and so much more the last 3 years.
· Sure the price will be the same after so economic approach to a makeover.
· And since it really is the same as it’s been the last decades, I’ll have more space both in the pool and in the wardrobes.


The spring is on its way, the birds are getting enthusiastic and it is lovely to know it will soon be safe to take a walk both outside, and on the wild side.