The landscape becomes important through stories, and stories are transferable. That’s why even a foreign body of water that grew up by the lake can feel familiar if there are familiar elements there.
What makes the countryside and rural landscapes meaningful is, among other things, longing for childhood.
Määttänen-Ojatalo remembers how, as a child, they threw potatoes, shot rowan berries and went by bike and horse.
– Oh, if I were a horse, I’d be galloping towards the sun again, says Määttänen-Ojatalo.
Stories live strong in the mind. So do smells.
– I remember the smells of making fodder and mowing the lawn. Smells are really important and there are plenty of them in nature.
Decades have not faded the scent memories.
– I constantly wince when a certain smell takes me back to my childhood, says Määttänen-Ojatalo.
Stories are transferable
– The kind of landscape that you attach yourself to has a story that you can relate to and that moves your own life, says Tiitinen.
A new landscape with familiar elements can feel meaningful even if you don’t know the individual points.
For example, if you grew up by a lake in Finland, the same experience might be transferable to the beach in France, says Tiitinen.
– The sounds and smells can be the same as in youth, and thus the experiences follow to a new place.
The story is the main factor in attachment.
– Because of the story, we also go to see the sights, says Tiitinen
Tiitinen also recognizes the importance of smells. Smells are connected to the center of sensation and therefore bring to mind strong memories
– If you are used to a certain scent or smell as a child, you will recognize them in exactly the same way fifty years from now.
A person does not have only one landscape that is meaningful. As you grow up and gain life experience, new landscapes become meaningful.
– If a person moves and there is a stone mound in the environment, it can become meaningful when you hear its story, says Tiitinen.
Goblins and elves
In Finland, there are landscape areas and national landscapes classified as nationally valuable, which are presented, for example, on the pages of the environmental administration.
In addition, everyone has their own landscapes that are valuable to them.
International Landscape Day, celebrated for the seventh time on Friday, October 20, reminds us of landscapes as part of identity and well-being.
In Ainasoja’s opinion, the everyday landscape is not appreciated enough, even though we are in it every day.
– It would be important to stop and try to understand its value, says Ainasoja.
Ainasosa urges you to marvel at the scenery in a childlike way.
– It’s much more exciting. A moment can become an exciting storybook, when gnomes and elves emerge from behind a stone in the landscape, says Ainasoja.
Esa Paak has lived in Himanga’s seascapes all his life. His memories are related to fishing and spring.
– Migratory birds and the awakening of nature is a great time, says Paak.
Another pleasant landscape is the island where I swam in the summer as a child.
– There is peace and good memories in these landscapes, says Paak.