What It Takes To Be Me
http://www.whatittakestobeme.com

Aurora Borealis – Northern Lights
Near Where I Grew Up
(Photographer unknown)

Hello you lovely person, you!

So, you’ve clicked your way to my “About Me” page? I guess that means you’d like to know a bit about me. Right?

Well, as this is a semi-anonymous blog, I won’t give you my date of birth or shoe size, but I’m more than happy to give you the basics followed by a seriously long and rambling list of incredibly random facts.

To start off: I’m on the right side of 30 and I blog about my life, both the ups and the downs, in the most honest way I feel able to.

I’m from Sweden; from a small coastal town just outside the Arctic Circle, but have been living in London the last fifteen years. I’m neither tall, nor blonde. I believe growing up in a place where you get to see the northern lights has a profound effect on who you grow up to be. [The picture above was taken near where I grew up. Sadly, I don’t know who took it, so I can’t credit them.]

Before moving to London I had never been stuck in a traffic jam, but had more than once found myself held up by herds of reindeer. I don’t own a single handbag, but have numerous Fjällräven Kånken backpacks. Yep. Been wearing them since age 6.

I have been in therapy for ten plus years and am currently doing thrice weekly attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Without going into too much detail, I have a strong personal interest in psychology. (Two short #FunForPsychologyNerds jokes that never fail to make me chuckle: “..I subscribe to Psychotherapy Today. I’ve got lots of issues..” and “Freud and The Wolfman walk into a bar. Bartender asks to see some id..”)

I believe in God, myself and kindness, and think that kindness is severely underrated. In addition to the golden rule, people should also consider the reverse; to be as kind to themselves as they are to others. This applies especially to people who have experienced abuse, who are sadly often not very kind to themselves. I am still working on it..

I love writing, am very close to my sisters and have a somewhat complicated relationship to the rest of my family. I do my nails obsessively when distressed and only marginally less obsessively at all other times. The colour of my nails often match the colours of my shoe laces. I’m not a girly girl.

My fastest time to solve the Rubik’s cube is 19.76 seconds and I know how to pick locks using hair grips. Despite these very obviously über-geeky Sheldon-from-Big-Bang tendensies, I’ve never seen StarWars, nor have I read Lord Of The Rings. I’m rubbish at maths and can’t think more than three moves ahead in chess.

I like doing calligraphy and often have ink stained fingertips and lips. I once wrote the words “grizzly sex” in black permanent marker across my sister’s hand, so she wouldn’t forget to remind me about a documentary about the Kodiak bears three days later.

Calligraphy aside, I love getting stuck into almost any form of art in any kind of medium, and you’ll find samples of this dotted throughout my site. You can find my Instagram here.  (Or simply search out the tag “expression through art“).

I nearly always wear mismatching socks, because I refuse spending time pairing them up. My favourite oxymoron is ‘sad smiley’ :( and I think that to suggest that “all is fair in love and war” is downright stupid. Of course it isn’t!

I spent two and a half years living in a therapeutic community, am a proud convert to Judaism, passionate about Reform Judaism and making my own informed choices. I think cash should be abolished. Immediately. This is entirely unrelated both to my religious beliefs and having lived in a therapeutic community.

I turned down the offer of a Mensa membership, having passed their IQ tests. Was horrendously hungover when I took them, as agreeing to take the tests in the first place was the direct result of a stupendously intoxicated bet the previous night. I genuinely can’t remember if my score was 169 or 176. Or 52. All I know is that they deemed me to be I the top 0.04th percentile and that the results papers are more than likely hopelessly lost somewhere in the attic at my mother’s place. This suits me just fine. I am so much more than a number or a statistic. A friend of mine says that the very fact that I chose not to join is definite proof that I’m really not all that clever after all. Infallible logic which has to be admired!

I like talking, love trying to figure people out and my favourite food is popcorn [preferably sprinkled with curry powder]. I like drinking my lactose free milk from a wine glass filled with ice-cubes. It’s a Breakfast At Tiffany’s thing. I always have to show ID when buying alcohol. Sometimes also when buying non-alcoholic cider..

I think everyone should take the time to visit this site at least once a day! It’s the easiest way possible to do something to help your fellow man, so go ahead, click the link!

Just for the sheer heck of it I have highlighted completely random words and phrases throughout this text. You know what else? Sometimes I tuck my chin to my chest, bend my knees and lean forward..because that’s the way I roll.

You want more? Really? I mean this introduction is ridiculously long and enormously informative.. Oh well, if you’re sure; read through the various blog posts and you’ll get a reasonably good idea of who I am and What It Takes To Be Me.

Have a lovely day.
In fact, have a lovely life!

xx

PS. In the interest of semi-anonymity [particularly for other people] I sometimes use artistic license to conjure up situations or aspects of relationships to illustrate a point.

Oh, and in case you happen to actually know me, I’ve added a little section on the right, appropriately called “For People Who Know Me”. You may want to check that out. Not in any way saying that you’re banned from checking it out even if you don’t know me, it just won’t be all that relevant to you. :)