Each of
us in life is of course a product of the people we’ve been with, the
experiences we’ve had, the conversations we’ve had, and the things we’ve seen
and learnt.
I received a very kind invitation from Robbie, to fly over for a few days holiday.
Sitting
in Oslo, drinking beers with Robbie and his Norwegian work colleagues, the
discussion turned to how Norway’s society functions. I heard the word
‘Janteloven’, followed by the phrase ‘The Law of Jante’, and there began a
significant life-changing experience, as I began to very quickly realise that
what I had previously accepted as ‘normality’ in Scotland, was in so many ways
a complete contrast to how life actually functions in a standalone Norway.
Janteloven,
- the needs of society are prioritised over the needs of any individual. And it
certainly isn’t considered cool, to play up individual achievements. The result is a society that is for many people, the envy of the
world. And that
applies across the entire span of politics, culture, socialism, morality, and
ethics. As a Scot, this realisation really was an epiphany. I wondered to myself,
‘what would Scotland be like if we also embraced Scandinavian mentality?’, and
there began a journey of discovery.
Worth highlighting, Norway is currently the
winner of the 2017 accolade, ‘the happiest country in the world’. And Denmark
took the title in each of the 3 preceding years!
In turn,
I’ve been so very fortunate to return to Norway, and then to visit Sweden, and
Denmark as well. The latter resulted in a 3,000 word Case study on Copenhagen for
wordpress Twitter: @YesDayScotland, so if you want to know what goes into physically
creating and maintaining the world’s happiest country, via:
These
are all combined benchmarks which an unrestrained Scotland can aspire to
emulate, world class systems of excellence, driven by self-discovery and a
necessity to define great ways for a society to function. Noted it would maybe
take 5 decades for Scotland to get going, but it really is all there to be
done. If Independent, we could function very similarly to any of these
amazingly happy and successful countries.
If you
have never done so, visit Scandinavia. A quick flight from Edinburgh, over to
Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki or Reykjavík. Go see for yourself!
And one
thing for sure. Many wealthy Scots who remain blinkered by Unionism, would be
in for a very quick change of mind if they even considered Denmark alone, and
realised that Scotland could funtion in so many similar and incredibly
successful ways. No need to reinvent any new wheels, when we can emulate so
many amazing existing successful systems. With a few elements of Janteloven!
It was such an honour to be asked this week, to
write an article for Business for
Scotland, Scotland's largest campaigning business network and think tank,
passionate about unlocking Scotland’s potential.
And in turn, I’m so very
humbled indeed, to see the social media reactions to that article, and footage in
tandem.
Pulling the footage
together was a 3 day job, centred with a 12 hour straight in the Balbirnie
House editing suite. Every piece of font, every shade, every tiny second of
switching, received everything. Sincere thanks to all of Balbirnie’s team who
helped. When running the halfway test shows, and seeing emotions as they
already were, we knew that we were heading somewhere special, and we
then speeded the edit and raised the emotive further. Those watching the first
final edit test shows, were very clearly so full of joy, and I can certainly
say there were a few tears as well. And that’s why we work in Hospitality!
Whilst the footage has streamed from Facebook, here’s a direct link to
YouTube:
The footage is a first for
Scotland, because this is the first time any hotel has ever used YouTube to
explain how Scandinavian mentality is translating into the continual never-ending
strive to provide our absolute best warmth of welcome of Scotland Hospitality.
It’s also been poignant
and emotive to use DRAW’s Incidentally, as the backing track. What a belter of
a tune! Janteloven doesn’t prevent me from confirming that DRAW were a former
Radio 1 Session in Scotland live band of the year, the recording was via
Castlesound, Scotland’s top recording facility. And all 4 band members were
under 20 when it was recorded. #Youth #Scotland
And thanks again to Carlsberg, for
paying for Balbirnie’s new external Courtyard facility, as a celebration of our
incredible year of 2016. Aye, if Carlsberg did an external dining facility … LOL!!!
At night, with fairy
lights across the Courtyard, overhead heaters, Carlsberg blankets, Euro
Downtempo Bossa Nova house mix tunes on, Bistro food and chilled beers, it simply doesn’t
get any more Hygge at Balbirnie. It really is so very special, and magical. Pass the Aquavit!
Our bond with amazing
Scandinavian brilliance grows ever stronger. And we very much look forward to
further embracing Janteloven and Hygge.
I thank my very lovely
wife Gaynor for all the times we’ve already had in Scandinavia. And for holding
my hand on our many adventures together. And here’s to many more in the future
x
Peace, Love and Best
Wishes to One and All
Nicholas Russell / MD
Balbirnie
Memories Made of This, in Stockholm:
Gaynor with the two youngest xxx
