June is usually a busy time. It is that time right before the "felles ferie" (common vacation) in Norway and a time where some cycles come to an end: the school year, work projects to be closed before vacation, gatherings with friends before vacation, etc.

For me, this time of the year usually gives me an opportunity to re-asses where I am and what I am doing. The past couple of years I have been on this "quest" to sort things out. In that process I have grown a bit. I have taken some time to figure out what is really important to me vs. those things that were important because someone or something else imposed them on me. Fortunately, due to this process, the list of things that I want to devote my time to improve, learn and do, has narrowed down significantly. I may be giving up the snowboard half pipe jumper dreams (after falling a bit hard in my back during the last attempt), but I am not giving up my pursuit for creative endeavors.

I am officially done with my art studies. I have passed the exams and now all that remains is to get the official diploma. A part time study that started as a desperate move to sort things out and ended up being one of the best things I have done for myself. However, it is just the beginning. The beginning of a lifetime journey. In the spirit of beginnings, growth and continuous improvement, I have decided to focus on a couple of areas that will complement and lift up the bar, not only when it comes to art, but also in many other areas of my life.

There is a long list of the things I could be better at, but I am starting with one: for the next 6-9 months I am going to lift up the bar on my Norwegian language skills. I live in Norway, I love Norway and I have been now over a decade in this country. I speak fairly well, I use Norwegian at work, but I would like to be able to express with the same richness and fluidity that I do in English and in Spanish. I want to understand people at a different level. I want to have Norwegian poetry and literature move me like English and Spanish poetry does. I want to be able to explain my ideas, thoughts and pieces with Norwegian words, and be somehow certain that the essence and the substance behind them is not "lost in translation."

So this starts my challenge. This blog will be the tool. I am going to start blogging in Norwegian: about my pieces, about my thoughts. I will do a quick recap and summary in English, not to leave my non-Norwegian readers out of the loop. I will try to be consistent. Once a week at least, sometimes more...likely less too, but let´s at least hope for more. I will write about inspiration, about ideas and about art. I will start with a short piece, on my next post, which introduces my latest series: "things the heart goes through," but now it is bedtime, so we´ll leave that one for tomorrow.