Writing my way through the A-to-Z blogging challenge, I’ve tasked myself with exploring the concepts of pronoia (the belief that the universe is conspiring to shower us with blessings), quiety (serenity) and peace – all through the lens of unusual, obscure, or simply delightful-to-me words.
Happy Earth Day!
S is for…
Smultronställe. This beautiful Swedish word literally means “place of wild strawberries”, and refers to a hidden or special place discovered, treasured, and returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness.
I’m in love with this concept. It feels like such a nourishing, nurturing thing for one’s soul. There’s a deep deliciousness about it that delights me to the very core.
I feel very blessed to have a number of places I might consider smultronställe. A few of them are places I visited in the past and while likely I may never return again, I do hold them in my heart and visit them often in dreamtime. One is a place at Lake Louise in Banff Canada, where a swatch of wildflowers first whispered to me in the voices of the Devas. One is a special place in Yosemite, where lying on my back in the grass under the Milky Way I had a profound spiritual experience. And one is my grandmother’s garden I knew as a child.
But for an actual accessible-to-me-in-this-moment place, my smultronställe is a spot near the river at my brother’s home. I think bonus points are available because he has strawberries there as well. And of course there is my own garden. But it’s tiny and in a place where neighbors are only feet away it doesn’t feel as hidden and private as I like to believe smultonställe ought be. Still it is a place of sanctuary and delight for me.
In these times of collective stress and chaos, I’m thinking about this admonition from Michael Gurian:
”As our lives speed up more and more, so do our children’s. We forget and thus they forget that there is nothing more important than the present moment. We forget and thus they forget to relax, to find spiritual solitude, to let go of the past, to quiet ambition, to fully enjoy the eating of a strawberry, the scent of a rose, the touch of a hand on a cheek…”
Smultronställe indeed seems like a much needed and thoroughly welcome reprieve. It also has me musing about strawberries.
Did you know strawberries were part of the rose family? That they’re the only fruit with their seeds on the outside? That the ancient Romans used strawberries to alleviate melancholy? That they’re often used in love and fertility magic?
There’s a charming Cherokee creation story about strawberries you might want to read here.
In Bavaria strawberries were once gathered and hung in baskets on the horns of cattle in payment to the nature spirits for healthy calves and cows producing an abundance of milk.
I think any place of wild strawberries is likely to be inhabited by strawberry faeries, and I know a thing or two about them as I have one living in my kitchen.
Isn’t smultronställe a perfect thing for us to consider on Earth Day? Do you have your own place of “wild strawberries”? How are you celebrating today? Have a particular love of strawberries? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
And of course there is the children’s book, The Secret Garden, which still inspires me when I read it!
Oh indeed – that’s perfect!
Yosemite just might be the place for me. Used to camp there at least twice per year until I moved to Ecuador. Loved lying among the huge granite and staring at nature.
Emily | My Life In Ecuador | Sunsets near the equator are different
Lovely indeed, although I suspect there are fabulous places in Ecuador that have captured your heart as well.
Hi Deborah – wonderful word … love it – and I do love strawberries straight from the field or the tiny wooded ones growing wild … I’d go to Cornwall and walk on the beaches and rocks which I trod so happily as a child … and South Africa for an uplift!! Cheers Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/s-for-sheep.html
Wild strawberries are such a magical treat. I hope you get to visit your smultronställe, if only in your dreams Hilary.
Smultonställe is easier to say than Smultronställe with an ‘r’ … 🙂 It’s a magical word nevertheless with or without the ‘r’ – At least the strawberry has 3 ‘r’s to roll one’s tongue around. And that it’s a part of the rose history ..This is a fascinating post Deborah thank you! The only fruit with its seeds on the outside – that certainly stands it apart from other fruits.
But apart from that, it’s so true that we forget to take time to stand or lie or stand still and to appreciate this beautiful earth with all that she has to offer ..
And yes, I have my own strawberry fields – my dreams perhaps, love of nature and family, writing, meditating … and there is nothing more delicious than a bowl of fat red juicy strawberries and a huge bowl of thick cream …
Oh goodness Susan – I should have done a better run through with spellcheck, eh?! It does actually contain the R, and hopefully now I’ve edited in the corrections in all the places it was missing.
Your smultonställe sound lovely and deeply nourishing – may you always find time to enjoy them.
We just returned from a beak in Belgium where we had the most delicious strawberries I have ever experienced. I’m sure glad you added that last sentence, or I would have felt immeasurably guilty about devouring a veritable town of faerie homes.
a break… it was a break
definitely not a beak…
LOL – a beak in Belgium sounds pretty fun as well. But how fabulous you found an ultimate strawberry experience there. And trust me, the faeries are smiling – just as I am.
The word Smultronställe is beautiful, and the strawberry visual just seals the deal! 🙂
Aren’t you just lucky that your Smultronställe contains ACTUAL strawberries? Now I’m also thinking about strawberries…yummy…
Yummy indeed. Might be time for a strawberry snack. 🙂
I love strawberries, I don’t think there is any other fruit like it. I don’t really have a ‘wild strawberries’ place but reading books somewhat puts me there, like being in another world
thanks for coming by my A-Z, have a lovely day.
I’ll never discount the magic of being transported to another world via books. Happy reading always, and happy a-to-z-ing.
There’s a spot on the path on the top of the Undercliff on the south coast of the Isle of Wight from which you can see three lighthouses. That’s mine. No strawberries there, but there is wild thyme.
(Strawberry fields forever!)
Sounds wonderful Kathleen. There’s something about lighthouses that really intrigue me. And wild thyme is a pretty magical companion as well.
I had a pretty stressful week so I thought your blog would be a perfect place to find a bit of tranquility. My house is a place of peace for me. I’m quite introverted and since I live alone, I feel like I can recharge here. I had strawberries with my cake this afternoon. And for Earth Day I planted my terrarium. I also tidied up my front porch and patio as I find it relaxing sitting on my porch with a good book and glass of lemonade. Girl Who Reads
Sounds like a lovely day Donna, and I hope it helped you unwind from your week. Wishing you a tranquil week ahead.
I love that word and can see it. When I was little, I lived in the middle of a hay field and I’d go for walks and one time I found some wild strawberries. It was the best discovery of my childhood.
~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Oh that’s fabulous!!!
Thanks for yet another beautiful word and a treasure of a post , Deborah . Smultronställe for me would have to be walking down memory lane , and re-discovering the blissful moments stored inside. Michael Gurian’s words reminded me of W.H. Davies’s poem , leisure. Loved the facts and magic stories about strawberries. 🙂
Best wishes,
Moon
https://aslifehappens60.wordpress.com
What a lovely smultronställe Moon! And thank you for pointing me to Davies’s poem – I didn’t know it. May we always have time (and the heart) to stop and stare.
Thank you for such a sweet word today Deborah. Oh! I’m gonna read Michael Gurian’s words a few more times before I move to the next blog.
Any patch of green with soil to play with is Smultronställe for me. Or buried within the covers of a good book:)
Thank you once again.
p.s. love the cheeky grin on your strawberry fairy.
S is for Silver Serendipity
Your delight is a source of delight for me Arti. Isn’t that often the way with good things – they grow exponentially through being experienced by others. Wishing you a most wonderful weekend.
OMG I love this!! Such a perfect concept! I do love wild strawberries (we call them szamóca, as opposed to eper, which is your garden variety strawberry), they are smaller and sweeter…
I’m going to adopt this word. Thank you!
The Multicolored Diary: WTF – Weird Things in Folktales
How cool you have a separate word differentiating wild strawberries – they really are wonderful and different.
Such a lovely read this was
A Peice Of My Life
Thanks – and I’m so delighted you stopped by.
Yay! My heart lifted when I saw the word for this post. Living in Sweden, I’m well acquainted with the beloved smultron. Yet, saying that, I wasn’t aware of smultronställe as a concept. It fits though, as finding a patch of smultron out in the forest really does feel special. I don’t think I have my own personal smultronställe, which I hope to rectify when we finally move into a house and I can have a garden. For now, I will make do with the forest. 🙂
I hadn’t realized you were in Sweden Sara. I hope your house and garden come to you soon, and in the meantime, I’m loving imagining you enjoying your forest
smultronställe. Living in the heart of metropolitan Chicago, stumbling upon forest strawberries seems entirely magical indeed.
I love strawberries, so smultronstalle sound lovely places! I had no idea strawberries were from the rose family though, that’s really interesting. I love adding rose water to foods – it has such a delicate taste.
There’s a dessert in England called Eton Mess, which is chopped strawberries, whipped cream, and broken up meringue all mixed together in a “mess”. It’s one of my favourite things to eat, and always makes me feel happy. 🙂 Like eating a bowl of sunshine! 😀 I bet it would be nice to add a few drops of rose water in the whipped cream.
Oops I forgot to add my own A-Z link hehe!
Here’s my “S” post 🙂 http://nataliewestgate.com/2017/04/surprise-secret-diary-of-a-serial-killer
Oooh Natalie – I have to say Eton Mess sounds fabulous. I love rose water as well, and use it liberally. I’ve also had Cardomom Rose meringues which are fabulous – give it a Google and I’m sure you’ll find a recipe.
One of my favorites from the past is John Muir Woods. When I lived in San Francisco, I would take refuge in the woods where I would sit in quiet so deep I could hear the trees talking.
That fills my heart with delight Sue.