Blogging Challenge Archives

Blogging Challenge #7:
From the good of the heart

31/01/2016 • erikafromstudiometsa • Leave a Comment

Hooray, and holy smokes, this is the last post for the 7-Day Blogging Challenge! Much to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed it. In a way it is like journaling (which is something I have been doing ever since I was a little girl), which at its best can be incredibly therapeutic and meditative.

So, what do you say? Shall we get on with the last Blogging Challenge post?

We shall!

Something else that has carried with me from childhood is my absolute love and adoration for animals. They are creatures that most often far outweigh the human in more capacities than one. They have the ability to make you live in the moment and forget about all of your troubles, not to mention teach you how to love unconditionally. I mean seriously, have you ever had a furry friend hold a grudge? I sure haven’t. They have the amazing ability to forgive and forget, something we could all learn from!

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
-Anatole France

The sad part is that, as we have domesticated animals, they sometimes end up in the care of people who are entirely incapable of caring for themselves, not to mention other living beings. This is how animals end up abused, living on the streets and, in some worst case scenarios, dead.

We patronize the animals for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they are more finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.
-Henry Beston

Luckily we have organizations that work to help these animals, care for them and provide them with a chance for a new life. One of those organizations is HESY, The Helsinki Society for Animal Protection. I have been lucky enough to have worked with them and help out in any way I can. They asked me to come in and photograph their vet at work for an article they were publishing in their magazine. These photographs are from that time.

And here are a few of the inhabitants at HESY at the time:

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
-Mahatma Gandhi

To give back and help these animals, please follow this link to donate to their important cause (the page is in English and all bank accounts are in the IBAN format so you can make a bank transfer from anywhere in the world).

I’m excitedly waiting to have a chance to work more with HESY and other organisations alike. If you have a desire to make the stories in your company or organisation visual, get in touch with me through info (at) studiometsa (dot) com – I can’t wait to hear from you!

And now, folks, this is it. I have completed my Blogging Challenge! Thanks to all of you for supporting me and commenting on my posts. It means the world to me! So even though the official challenge is over, I will still keep blogging since I am having so much fun! :)

Happy new week to all of you lovelies!

Until next time,
xoxo Erika

Blogging Challenge #6: What Lies Beneath

30/01/2016 • erikafromstudiometsa • Leave a Comment

It was the beginning of elementary school and I was in the line up for lunch when I felt a pinch in my butt. I turned around to see a grinning girl few people behind me. I wish I could say it was a friendly grin but it was, in fact, much more malignant than friendly.

That was the start of my 6 year turmoil with said girl.

During the six years of elementary school, she was in control over how I felt, what I did, who I spent time with and where I went. The nightmare got so bad that at times I was afraid of going to school, not knowing what kind of a day she was having today – good or bad – so I would take out a thermometer, hold it up against a hot lightbulb and tell my mom I have fever and therefore cannot go to school.

As children we are, unfortunately, not able to understand and process things the same way we are as adults.

And I have since come to understand that (with the words of the wise Eleanor Roosevelt)

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

The experience of being bullied has been one of the most influential events of my life. It began as a dark cloud hanging over my head but the more I processed it, the more I came to see the gifts it presented for me.

It has made me a very sensitive and observant person
It has taught me how to recognise true friendship and care in people
It has given me strength to push through boundaries of my own and of those around me
It has allowed me to connect to something deep within me and feel feelings strongly and deeply
It has taught me that nothing is set in stone and I, myself, am a work-in-progress, always able to evolve and grow
And more than anything, it has taught me that I can push through and survive anything. Because we are precisely as capable as we think we are.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t; you are right. -Henry Ford

And that concludes today’s Feel Good Blogging Challenge. I sincerely hope you are all having a wonderful weekend with your loved ones, feeling the laughter in your stomach and the love in your heart.

Until next time lovelies,
Thank you for being so amazing.

xoxo Erika

My self portrait in Vancouver, BC - Studio Metsä Photography

Blogging Challenge #3: Inside out

27/01/2016 • erikafromstudiometsa • 2 Comments

Whytecliff Park Vancouver BC by Studio Metsä Photography

DAY THREE of the seven day Blogging Challenge – Something fascinating and relevant

Today I wanted to talk about relationships.

Why are you friends with the people you are friends with? Why do you love the people you love?

Is it because they have a lot of money? Or because they have a lot of influence? Or maybe it’s because they just bought that freaking awesome penthouse suite? Or because they are really hot? Or no, I know, it’s their designer wardrobe, isn’t it? Or no, wait, now I really know why, it’s the colour of their hair! …right?

Umm, NO.

We all know that’s not why we love someone.

It’s because they’re amazing people. It’s because they have a good heart, they’re there for you, they support you, they are great listeners, they make you laugh, they give great advice, they share your values, you have common interests – whatever it is, it is not on the surface, it is within. It’s who they are and how they make you feel.

(But if on top of that they were also really attractive and owned a penthouse suite, that wouldn’t exactly be a turn-off now would it? ;))

So let’s relate this to the business side of things. Companies and organizations are struggling to stay ahead of the competition or even simply to get recognized in the midst of the information overload each of us experiences on a daily basis.

What makes us stop? What makes us pay attention?

Something flashy might grab our attention for a moment, but then comes the next flashy thing and we have already forgotten about the one previous to that. And the cycle goes on.

Our world is saturated with images, each prettier or more shocking than before. But quantity does not override quality, it never has and it never will. And today quality comes from the heart.

What if you and your company started operating from the inside out? What if you brought out the personality, the values, the vision and mission of your brand? What if you turned your brand into the most amazing, heart-warming person anyone’s ever met? And then added the hotness and penthouse suite to complete the package?

Because this is the thing : we can appreciate the superficial qualities of products or services, but we don’t marry them or become loyal to them based purely on those factors. Our loyalty and commitment lies with those that connect to something deeper within us.

We all want connection – genuine, honest-to-god, raw connection.

I remember a time in art school when I was showing my photographs during a critique and a lot of my fellow students brought up an emotion they felt when they looked at them. The photographs weren’t literally depicting this emotion, but it was an emotion I had felt at the time I made those photographs and they were able to connect to that.

That’s the true beauty of photography – when you work from that passion within you, you work from something stronger than anything tangible, and it comes across in the work. Your heart comes across in the photographs.

So next time you need a photographer for a project, remember who your company is, the values and the reasons why you are in business and select a photographer who is in business for the same reasons. This creates a force to be reckoned with and, I swear, together you are going to make magic.

I will leave you with this little nugget of wisdom from Maya Angelou:

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post and that it has given you something to chew.

Tomorrow is a new day and we get another chance at designing our businesses, our lives and ourselves.

May the force be with you.

Until next time lovelies,
xoxo Erika

Blogging Challenge #2: Was I teleported or how did I get here?

27/01/2016 • erikafromstudiometsa • 2 Comments

Gorgeous Vancouver at sunset by Studio Metsä Photography

Day Two of the Blogging Challenge! Woop woop!

Today’s theme is how did I become an entrepreneur!

I bet everyone dreams of being their own boss, right, I mean it is an appealing thought to be in complete control over your time, tasks and appointments. I’m sure the thought has crossed many people’s minds. And it sure did mine, over and over again, for years and years. But it always seemed nothing more than an elusive dream.

With that dreamer mindset I moved to Helsinki, the capital city of my homeland of Finland, soon after finishing high school. I had no freaking clue about what I wanted to do with my life, I mean I wanted to be a photographer but come on now, how realistic is it that I would get to do what I like?? So I postponed school and got myself a job instead. Funny thing is, I had dreamt about working for my at-the-time-favorite clothing store and ended up getting employed by them. So dreams do come true but I guess it wasn’t strong enough to make me realize that dudette-woman, I could totally be a photographer if I so wanted. Oh well, we all have our paths we need to take, right?

Well. Turns out not all dreams are dreamy in reality and it really is true when people say “be careful what you wish for”! I quit the job after two years and went on to look for something with more responsibility – I was really craving more opportunities and challenges, so I ended up in a mobile operator company. I started as a receptionist but due to the company’s rearranging and reassigning of tasks, I was being trained for more.

Whoopiedoo, I was getting more responsibility! But what the heck, I was still “just” the receptionist! I marched into my boss’ office and made a strong case as to why I should be promoted. She agreed and voilá, suddenly I had my own office and was in charge of bad debt and collection.

But.

As I was clocking in and clocking out day after day, month after month, I began to crawl out of my skin. It was not my cup of tea, at all!

And then it happened.

The turning point.

I was studying for an entrance exam test (because I thought if I just went to study anything, I was bound to find something I liked). But as I was (trying) to read the book, I told a friend of mine how I wasn’t at all inspired and all I wanted to do was photograph, why couldn’t I just do that? He was silent for a moment and then he said to me “Erika, if that’s how you feel, why on earth are you studying for this exam? Why don’t you just apply to go study photography?”

And that was it.

I applied to a photography school in Finland and spent an amazing year studying and devouring anything and everything related to photography. But it only made me crave for more and I decided it was time to apply abroad (something that had also been a dream of mine for a long, long time!). After a chain of events, I ended up finding and applying to a school in Vancouver, Canada.

I still remember the moment I got a package in the mail from ECUAD.

It was thick.

!!!

And I thought “nooooo, could this be…? Could this really be an acceptance package??”

I opened it.

The letter read “Congratulations!..”

EEKK!!

I WAS MOVING TO CANADA!!!

My life was about to change. Entirely. Completely.

And it did. My life got turned on its head.

The absolute best decision I ever made.

Ever.

I cannot emphasize it enough!

On August 14th, 2008 I embarked on a journey from Finland and after freaking crazy 33hrs of traveling, I was in Vancouver, BC. (And FYI, it does not normally take that long to travel from Finland to Canada but I was flying through two different cities and got stuck in the last one due to some seriously delayed flights!)

But boy, oh boy, was it ever worth it.

I was in freaking VANCOUVER! I still remember waking up in my hotel in the morning, looking out at sunny Vancouver all the while the widest smile EVER was spreading across my face. There are not enough words to describe how happy I felt. I stepped outside my hotel and the hot, humid air hit me and I just stood there, on the street, (Beatty Street), and smiled. I must have looked like a complete fool, haha! The following two weeks I spent getting my shizzles organized: finding an apartment, getting a phone and a laptop, learning how to navigate the city, and I swear the entire time I had this goofy grin on my face. Come to think of it, people probably just thought I was high! Haha (For those of you that don’t know, Vancouver is also known as Vansterdam…)

Anyway.

It was heaven. Pure heaven.

And that’s really where it all started. From stumbling on a few different possible “career paths”, I arrived at a conclusion that I was not going to be happy unless I followed my heart. It was that simple realization and faith that got me through all the challenges and obstacles.

I dared to follow a life-long dream of living abroad and it showed me that everything is possible. When you get into that mindset that everything is possible, everything really becomes possible.

During my time in Vancouver, I met some truly amazing and inspiring people, all of whom I will forever carry in my heart. (And this makes me think of a beautiful poem by my favorite poet ee cummings called “i carry your heart with me (i carry it in“) All of these people played a part in forming and shaping my mind, attitudes and outlooks, and indirectly preparing me for entrepreneurship.

It has been a long journey of learning and unlearning and I have become eternally hungry for more. And now that I finally made the plunge to be an official, legally owned company and not a freelancer, everything seems to hold more value. Now everything I do, everything I read, everything I talk about or listen to, everything holds direct meaning for the business. When I am self-employed, it all comes down to the self (this is something that was pointed to me a while back by one of my personal heroes, someone who, in more ways than one, changed my life).

Being an entrepreneur is so much more than the work itself, marketing, branding or accounting – it is a trip into you. You are constantly at the edge of your seat, outside of your comfort zone, learning and growing, finding new ways when the old ones no longer work. It’s a constant trial-and-error, discovery and re-discovery.

It’s not just a job, it’s a way of being.

One of my professional heroes, Jim Rohn, put it so well when he said:

“If you want to have more, you have to become more.
For things to change, you have to change.
For things to get better, you have to get better.
For things to improve, you have to improve.
If you grow, everything grows for you.”

This is what I have written on the wall of my home office and this is what I keep as my mantra. Life is what you make of it and when we are lucky enough to be born under circumstances where we can have this much control over our lives, we have to make the most of it.

And that, in a nut shell, is how I arrived to where I am today.

My gratitude goes to everyone I have met along the way, in my entire life, because those are the people I have to thank for shaping me into who I am today. Thank you.

Blogging challenge #1:
Who I work for and why I am not a princess

25/01/2016 • erikafromstudiometsa • Leave a Comment

Erika Lind from Studio Metsä photographing in California, USA

Finally today, quite belatedly, I am taking part in a feel good blogging challenge created by the wonderful and inspiring Alex Beadon. I have wanted to commit myself to more (consistent!) blogging for my business and I am hoping this 7-day challenge will help me get on the road.

So. Here we go, let’s get the wheels turnin’!

Describe my tribe – who am I trying to connect with
The people I want to reach through my business and blog are the people who work to make the world a little bit (or a lot!) better. The people that are driven by a deep reason to wake up every day excited and ready to go to work because they know in their hearts how important it is what they do, not just for themselves but specifically to those they serve.
The work these people do can vary from non-profit organisations to small businesses to print publications to solo entrepreneurs – the type of company doesn’t matter, it is the cause and the why of the company that does.

Why am I focusing on serving them?
Because I am one of them.
And because I believe we are here to serve and help others.

To illustrate this belief, let me tell you a little story from a long time ago:
When I was around six or seven years old, I was at my cousins’ house on a play date. My cousins decided that we should play the princess game. Our first task was to appoint the princess and her maids. For me this was a no-brainer: I wanted to be the maid.

I have always sincerely felt that serving is so much more gratifying than being served.
(That said, I am not one to deny others of the same gratification should they in some way want to serve me ;))

Why Me?
When we are involved in work that primarily exists because of strong core values, it is crucial for the success and well-being of the work to have everyone involved believe in it too. So if we have found that our core values match, I think we’re meant to be! (To read more about Studio Metsä’s core values, stay tuned!)

The One and Only
The one message I hope people will take with them when they leave my virtual home is that of peace and certainty that together we can achieve and accomplish anything we set our minds to.

—

There we go. The wheels are turnin’ and I can feel the wind in my hair! I’ve always loved road trips and I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a journey!

Until next time lovelies,
xoxo Erika