What Finland taught

'Happy' is one of the earliest words we learn to speak, an emotional marker of vocabulary indicating a sense of joy, and shorthand for the upturned curve of a smile.

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It is cold - but fun, honestly!

As we age, we come to understand happiness not just as a feeling, but as an aspiration - the ultimate aspiration - the most humble of longings and a state we should seek and preserve by the way we conduct our lives. The term has been so deeply digested into our vocabulary that it is almost too familiar, that we rarely consider its complexity and what it means beyond its most basic definition.

Finland was recently named the 'Happiest Country in the World' by the World Happiness Index for the eighth consecutive year. It is a land known for long winters and muted light, characteristics that we in the UK often attribute to melancholy.

Finns themselves were initially taken aback by the accolade, as they are not exactly recognised for having cheery personalities. At surface-level it appears illogical. This then brings forward the question of how happiness is measured, which may be the key to how we attain the kind of fulfilment we are programmed to seek.

I recently travelled to Finland to understand what happiness really means - and this is what I discovered...

Nature is woven into the fabric of Finnish life