Dear 2020 · Clara Eneqvist
This next interview from the Dear 2020 series is with Clara Eneqvist - photographer, yogini and all round free spirited creative from Sweden. I’m so pleased to have her as part of this series as she brings a sense of grounding softness and soulful creativity into everything she touches.
I met Clara back in 2019 when she joined one of our Into the wild within nature expeditions as a photographer, and oh my I never anticipated her work to be so stunningly good. She was able to capture the essence of the experience so intimately. Quite evidently from her work, her power lies in the micro, in the detail, the space between spaces, anchored firmly in the depth of the moment.
You can tell this well by her instagram feed also, where she shares awe-inspiring micro moments of daily delights through food, friends, travels and sacred aloneness.
I’m excited to share this with you - enjoy.
Elena Zoe xxx
What are three words you would use to describe 2020?
Love. Growth. Honesty.
What is the biggest shift you experienced this year?
Pausing. Pausing and pausing. This year really forced me to put everything on hold.
Not running from country to country, chasing another dream or another sunrise. Just coming back to the source, the core, and the question of what I really want do in my life. It was like an awakening so strong that it felt like a mountain could be moved.
And in this pause, a sense of calm washed down over my shoulders. I never released how stressed I actually was. This breathing space was just what I needed.
What is the biggest learning you’re taking with you?
There will always be tough times and difficult situations, and that’s OK.
Changing my mindset from “Why is this happening to me” to “What is this teaching me” has been a game-changer for this year.
What is the best thing you accomplished this year?
I’m actually so proud of many things this year. One thing that stands out is how I started a cold swimming community in Malmö, Sweden. Due to this strange year of the pandemic, the place that we called home became for many more like a prison. Hugging got prohibited and vital human contact scarce.
And so within all this I felt called to create an opportunity for people to meet outside, listen to music, drink warm tea and share joy after a nice cold swim in the ocean. Every Sunday at noon, brave souls came out of their homes to take off their clothes and with their naked skin face the shock of the cold water. And wow, looking at each other, smiling in the water, listening to the music and fully letting go, relaxing their bodies, slowing their breaths, feeling the shoulders melt and without touching just being a part of a community. Being at home.
It makes me realise over and over how home isn't a place, but a feeling.
What is the best thing you bought this year?
A plane ticket back to Sweden from France after being in quarantine for a couple of months.
Led me to meeting the love of my life!
Sometimes changing plans can be just the right thing.
What is one practice that kept you sane this year?
Cold swims! When I go into the water, there’s nothing else in my head than the sound of my breath, everything turns quiet and my mind goes still. It’s been such a beautiful practice of getting out of my head and at the same time connecting with the elements.
What do you think is one way the world changed in 2020?
The world has probably changed in a thousand ways but one thing that deeply resonates for me is the things we usually take for granted. Small things like hugging is no longer a given, but it’s something most of us long for as human beings.
I hope that when we get through this pandemic we’ll appreciate each other more, find the room for resting and pausing and live a little slower and more mindfully.
What advice would you give to your Jan 1st 2020 self?
You won’t be sad forever! That’s what makes us human and that’s what's so beautiful. Being human, with all the feels.
Go offline, go out in nature and be with you, feel you and that will slowly heal you.
What are you looking forward to the most in 2021?
I’m hoping it will be safe for us to travel in our van down to the alps. I’m so looking forward to living for a few months in this simple life together with my man. Go on hikes, make food over the fire, be phone-less and full of LIFE.
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Interview series with inspiring women in my community about turning the challenges of 2020 into triumphs of growth, opportunity and expansion.