This autumn, the Queen and I visited Aremark municipality in Østfold, near the Swedish border. When we got into the car to drive back home, we looked at each other and smiled. It woudl have been a good and pleasant visit. But there was something more. Something that warmed deep inside us. It didn’t take long before we found out what it was all about. For that was something we recognised. Which we had also met in Kvænangen, in balsfjord and on Svalbard earlier this year. And like The Crown Prince couple met on their trip in Hallingdal in September.
It was this: The joy of being with people who get something good done together and who take care of each other.
That’s why we traveled back home excited after a good day. And maybe it hit us a little extra hard in the heart because it was so different than much of what otherwise characterizes our world at present.It felt like something precious, something we must take good care of.The Queen and I have been lucky enough to have this positive force get to experience on our many journeys across the country throughout the 57 years we have been married. It is indeed pure vitamin injection. Just imagine:
A men’s choir at the end of a quay – singing at the top of their lungs in the gale. A sports team where the training gives the children both joy, mastery and friendship. A language café in a small village where laughter rings out among people from different countries who have found a new home here with us.
Such experiences are something to be really happy about.
We are of course aware that everyone is extra diligent when we have to come to visit. But everything is already there. Clubs, choirs, corps and people – they do not exist as we are coming. All this is kept alive each day – all over the country. For us, this is an effective cure for discouragement – and a strong motivation to start a new day.
Next year we all have something big to look forward to when the Norwegian men’s national team has qualified for the football World Cup – for the first time in 28 years.The team spirit of the national team is a fantastic example on achieving something together.We can be really proud of them. I’m looking forward to it!
At the same time, it is easy to understand that many people can become both restless and down to the way the world looks today. the familiar world order that we have followed for many decades is in upheaval. Daily we see examples of democratic principles faltering and minorities’ rights are weakened – also in our part of the world. Here at home,many people are struggling to make ends meet.We suffer with our fellow human beings in Gaza,Ukraine,Sudan… And we are upset by the lack of agreement on fair, lasting solutions. This also applies in the work to protect our planet and natural diversity against climate change. This year they have again received catastrophic consequences for people who are extra exposed. The will to take real action still does not seem to be strong enough.
Still: We have so much good and vital things to take care of. As we have built up together, which we must preserve together, and which we continue to create together. We must contribute where we can. Both in the big and the small.