Today, I talked to a former workmate. We have always been good colleagues, he is a great journalist, reliable, focused and clever. A few weeks ago he quit his job. He had started to work with a new company, and he didn’t agree to the terms of the daily work routine: copying stuff from the internet, no time for research. He didn’t think about future prospects and his pension. He quit. Sometimes, you have to have the guts.
Values like courage and bravery lead us directly to the Vikings. As you already might know, everyone on Faroe Islands is, somehow, related to these bold Norsemen. One of the famous Faroese Viking chieftains was named Sigmundur Brestisson. Hop on a small ferry or take the helicopter to Skúvoy, and you will find his gravestone. What is so special about Sigmundur? He and Tróndur í Gøtu are central figures of the Færeyinga saga. Tróndur í Gøtu lived on another Island that belongs to Faroe, it is called Eysturoy – the Island I am just sitting on and writing this blogpost. The conflict between Sigmundur Brestisson and Tróndur í Gøtu took place more than 1000 years ago. If you want to know more about it, read the Færeyinga saga: Faroese National Heritage is the general administration for i.a. the National Library, the National Archive and the National History Museum.
Back to here and now. Even today you can meet Vikings on Faroe Islands. The outside temperature is twelve degrees Celsius? Watch cheerful kids take a bath in the river that runs down from the mountains. The music festival G! rocks Syðrugøta? Be sure that the spirit of Tróndur í Gøtu is present. Why else would everyone go for a swim in the North Atlantic? The Faroese like to be brave. They climb steep cliffs and row the oceans – take a look at Ocean Row Events. Some of my Faroese Facebook-friends even post pictures of cement-mixers and excavator shovels, because it makes them feel good to be able to build their own houses.
Whether you are addicted to construction markets or not: Don’t let the idea of pension rule your life. An open-plan office shouldn’t be the center of your life. Sometimes, you have to have the guts. Learn from the Vikings. Only the brave experience adventures.