July 2, 2018 - Our little schooner is docked at Stockholm Sweden. We are only scheduled to be here for the morning, so not nearly enough time to explore this large historical city. We will be at sea for the next 2-3 days as we travel through the Swedish islands archipelago, the Gulf of Bothnia, and back into the Baltic Sea to end this part of the episode at Copenhagen, Denmark. We will be returning to Stockholm later in the episode to spend around 10 days here so we will have much more time to explore
When you travel as much as we have, you begin to let go of your preconceptions of the world and see what other cultures value and admire. I can tell you from my own observations, I have not seen much value given to military might or economic power. I mean those things matter obviously but what shapes a culture and gives a country it’s identity over and over again has been it’s art and how they treat their places of worship.
The irreverent statue above is a good example. We saw nothing like it in Russia. The playfulness of the statue speaks volumes at how the people want to see themselves. Reaching for the light and stepping away from the decades of stagnation. In Finland there is a beautiful monument to the composer Johan Sibelius whose work helped establish the national identity. In the Orthodox Church there was a reverent service of communion with clouds of incense in the air. At the same time their were Pride flags everywhere. You would never see such an overt display just a few miles away across the border. It matters little whether or not you support Gay issues. The display shows that the country is open, free and unafraid. It is a country that is relatively young yet firmly trying to say we are our own people.
We saw a similar story in Norway, Thailand, Germany, Singapore, and others - the experience is universal. If you take away the art and music and remove the churches/synagogues/temples/mosques - you take away the soul of your people.
Dave Eggers writes, “Since the current administration took office only two musicians have visited the White House. Ted Nugent and Kid Rock. Neither of them played any music”
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