Sky Gardens: The Northern Lights

Everyone who knows me knows that I can talk for hours:) I genuinely love conversations. To me, the meaning of life is hidden in deep talks with friends, endless laughter silly moments spontaneous dances heartbreaks long flights beautiful meals, delicious desserts and laughing so hard your stomach hurts.

And apparently, science agrees with me too :) Maybe you’ve seen it on social media before — the famous happiness study started by Harvard University back in 1938, known as one of the longest-running human development studies in the world. Researchers followed hundreds of people for more than 75 years to discover what truly makes us happy.

The study first began with 268 Harvard students and later expanded to include 456 low-income residents from Boston. Over decades, researchers examined every part of their lives health, relationships, careers, psychological well-being, and even their children.

One of the three biggest conclusions of the study was surprisingly simple: the strongest source of happiness is relationships. Family, friendships, and close emotional bonds turned out to be the most important ingredients of a happy life. They even discovered that loneliness can be as harmful as smoking or alcoholism.

And then there’s money. Of course, people always say “money brings happiness,” but apparently that’s only true up to a certain point. Once basic comfort and security are met, wealth and status are no longer the main predictors of long-term happiness.

So after 75 years of research, the Harvard study reminds us of something beautifully simple: what truly makes people happy isn’t money, success, or status it’s meaningful, deep, and genuine human connection .

But I think the pandemic made this especially difficult for all of us, building relationships, deepening them, and truly connecting with one another. And since I wasn’t choosing solitude willingly, but rather feeling stuck and bored, I threw myself into listening to podcasts like crazy :)

I absolutely love listening. Not only does it improve my ability to truly hear people, which is such an important part of healthy communication, but somehow being able to speak, to be heard, and to write slowly feeds your soul over time.

Long story short, toward the end of last year, while listening to one of the podcasts I’ve followed for years, the translator of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø was talking about Norwegian culture through one of his books. And suddenly, something inside me lit up again.

That old dream almost everyone secretly carries at some point in life, seeing the Northern Lights, finally started to feel real. And before we knew it, we found ourselves as a family in Tromsø, the icy ruler of freezing temperatures :)

As you probably know, Norway’s nature is already legendary. About twenty years ago, during a summer vacation, we spent a whole month traveling through the fjords with close family friends in a caravan, staying up in the mountains. Nature is unbelievably generous there. No matter where you look, you feel overwhelmed with gratitude :)

Honestly, no matter what I write, it would never be enough to describe the fifty shades of green you see in Norway. So this time, I want to talk about a different side of the country.

Nordic Noir, or Scandinavian crime fiction, has been taking the world by storm for years now. With a population of only around five million, Norway and the other Scandinavian countries have somehow become some of the first places that come to mind when people think of crime novels. It’s honestly fascinating. How do such dark and brutal stories come out of these peaceful little pieces of paradise where crime rates are actually so low?

As you may know, most European countries have two major holiday seasons, Easter and Christmas. During these holidays, or even on weekends, Norwegians escape into nature by going to what they call “Hytte” cabins. These are simple, minimalist mountain or forest houses, many of them without electricity or internet. Going to the hytte is practically a way of life for them.

And the tradition there is amazing. Sitting by the fire, eating chocolate, and reading crime novels is considered pure entertainment. Such an incredible cultural difference, isn’t it? :)

When you visit bookstores, museums, or dive into the art scene in Norway, you start noticing an interesting dark side to the culture. Living with six months of darkness and six months of light has shaped their sense of normal in a completely different way. Almost every window has some kind of lamp or soft lighting hanging in front of it.

Life starts incredibly early there. Workplaces open around 5:30 or 6 in the morning, and people are done with work by 3 PM. And since there’s barely any traffic, imagine being home within ten minutes:) Dinner is usually around 4 PM. Families with small children probably find ways to stay busy, but for everyone else… there are only so many hours you can spend doing things.

Every other shop feels like a gym. There are fitness centers almost as frequently as coffee shops, and they are packed. But of course, you can’t spend the entire day exercising, so people naturally turn toward books.

And apparently, that dark, quiet atmosphere, the sound of silence itself, gives people inspiration to write. That’s actually one of the reasons writing books is supported by the government. If you want, you can even take a year off work and receive financial support from the state to write a book :)

But here’s the best part. If your book isn’t finished by the end of that year, they ask for the money back :)

Tromso Library

Let’s quickly begin the tour. Before arriving in Tromsø, we kept wondering what we would possibly do there for such a long time. But the North surprised us in the best way possible.

The building you see in the photo above is the public library and city archive, one of the architectural symbols of Tromsø. Honestly, a city this small yet culturally vibrant deserves a space this organic and beautiful.

But it’s much more than just a library. It’s a real meeting point for people. Books, study areas, events, conversations… it’s fully woven into everyday social life.

The shape of the roof was inspired by the wavy seas and fjords of Northern Norway, while the massive glass facade allows natural light to flood the interior. It’s such a beautiful place to pause for a moment, learn more about the culture, and feel part of local life instead of just passing through as a tourist.

Every view there feels breathtaking. The kind of scenery that makes you sit quietly and reevaluate your entire life.

Because of the weather conditions, they’ve designed so many indoor social spaces. Amphitheaters, open exhibitions, free workshops… there’s honestly so much to do. For example, at Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, you can freely experiment with art right on the ground floor. They’ve set up huge tables filled with all kinds of materials, and you can spend hours there without even entering the museum itself.

While we were there, at least three or four different people stopped by, took sketchbooks out of their bags, drew something, created something, and then quietly packed up and left. Almost like grabbing a coffee, but more of a mental break actually :)

The museum itself is beautiful too. As a visitor, you’re not just looking at artworks, you’re constantly experiencing something. But while walking through it, I have to admit, a strange heaviness slowly settles inside you. The artworks are incredibly dark and overwhelming.

A lot of them reflect fear of the unknown depths of the ocean. Paintings of polar bears attacking humans, giant waves swallowing ships whole, dark faces hidden beneath the sea… honestly, by the end of it, my mood was completely gone…

Arctic Catedral

Tromsø has a mainland side and another side across the water. We rented such a beautiful wooden house on the mainland that our view looked straight out onto the magnificent Arctic Cathedral and the fjords.

Before this trip, I was unbelievably stressed. I was about to take what felt like the 19,284th exam of my life. But sometimes the things we see truly change something inside us. The more I stared at that landscape, the calmer I became. I slowed down, felt lighter, and believe it or not… I even became quiet for once. PS: I passed the exam :)

Now let’s talk about this handsome landmark of Tromsø, the Arctic Cathedral. What makes this building so unique is definitely its sharp geometric form. The architect wanted the triangular structure to reflect glaciers and the harsh nature of Northern Norway.

Standing against the snowy Arctic landscape, the cathedral has an almost mystical atmosphere inside. From the outside, it looks like an iceberg or a frozen wave rising from the fjord. And from the photos and exhibitions I saw, whenever the Northern Lights appear above the city center, the cathedral becomes the most dramatic backdrop imaginable.

Polaria- Tromso-Norway

Another striking landmark of Tromsø is the building you see above, Polaria. It’s far from being an ordinary structure. With its tilted white panels designed to resemble floating ice blocks and its location right by the sea, the building feels like a perfect blend of modern architecture and Arctic wilderness.

Polaria is actually one of the northernmost aquariums in the world as well as an Arctic experience center. The entire structure was intentionally designed to look like giant slabs of ice pushed onto land.

Even in the middle of freezing temperatures, endless snow, and such a harsh climate, everything feels simple, functional, and beautifully aesthetic. And naturally, it makes you think… maybe we are the ones making life unnecessarily complicated.

Perhaps the secret behind the calmness of Norwegians is hidden exactly there, in learning to live in harmony with nature instead of constantly fighting against it …

And now, the cherry on top The Northern Lights, the crown jewel of my bucket list for many, many years.

Magical, surreal, almost supernatural… You genuinely start wondering, if heaven exists, what could possibly be more beautiful than this?

Before traveling to Tromsø, we had already booked a Northern Lights tour. But as you probably know, seeing them is partly pure luck. The sky needs to be clear, there can’t be clouds, solar activity has to cooperate… everything has to align perfectly.

Thanks to my husband, who is basically a sky expert. we moved our tour a few days earlier than originally planned. So if you ever want to see the Northern Lights, give yourself at least four days in the north. And most importantly, go with a really experienced guide.

We were incredibly lucky. Because the experience is not simply about “seeing lights.” You spend six or seven hours chasing something no human can control, driving through endless darkness for kilometers. Safety and experience matter there more than almost anywhere else.

And finally… the big night arrived :)

We met at the tour point around 6 PM. On the way, our guide gave us a very realistic speech preparing us for the possibility that we might not see anything at all :) He was honest, but still hopeful.

First, we drove north for almost an hour, crossing icy roads. Then suddenly the guide stopped, stepped outside, came back in, and announced that unfortunately we had to drive in the exact opposite direction. That was our first emotional damage :)

Honestly, the driver is everything on a night like this. You’re surrounded by complete darkness, the stars replacing streetlights, chasing a tiny possibility through frozen roads. If that’s not madness, I don’t know what is :)

About two hours later, I glanced to my left inside the car… and I swear something from the sky winked at me. But I couldn’t even fully trust my own eyes. Apparently human vision struggles to clearly detect those wavelengths and colors in the dark. Thankfully, whenever humans fail at something, we immediately invent technology Phones and cameras, far more sensitive than our eyes, suddenly reveal unbelievable shades of green and purple.

But honestly, whether I saw them clearly or not was never the most important part for me. I was already in love with the experience itself. Still… I could never have imagined the sky would become that beautiful.

After driving a little farther, our guide stepped out once again, checked the wind, the angle, the parking spot, every tiny detail… and finally told us to get out of the car.

The second we stepped outside, the lights surrounded us in every direction. A full 360 degrees And then… action. Happiness screams everywhere.

Duru looked up at the sky and asked:

“Mom… are these rainbow nights?”

“Yes,” I said. 🤍

Waves of green flowed above us across the sky. Sometimes they turned white, sometimes purple, and sometimes they covered the entire horizon. For the first time in my life, I witnessed nature doing something that felt so alive.

My eyes filled with tears. I actually cried. Because in moments like that, you suddenly feel incredibly small within this enormous universe. All the stress, the fears, the endless things you keep trying to keep up with… they suddenly feel meaningless.

You simply look up at the sky. And you realize there is a system far greater than yourself.

For nearly four hours, we watched the lights come and go, dancing above us. We sipped warm drinks by the fire, froze in the cold, climbed in and out of the van, took photos, and lived through both the longest night of our lives and one of those truly once in a lifetime experiences…

People riding sleds like bicycles, fresh and delicious salmon, sushi, fjords, incredible coffee and desserts… beautiful days and long Arctic nights passed through our lives like a dream. What a journey it was.

As I always remind myself and the people I love, we cry and it passes, we laugh and it passes, we get hurt and it passes, we suffer and it passes, we win and it passes, we lose and it passes… and little by little, that’s how a lifetime goes by. Everything eventually passes.

Until we meet again on another journey…

Cheers,

Betty.