
In ten days, Emilia will spearhead a global event titled, "Day of Sisu" in order to recognize and celebrate the strength that resides in all of us. The event will kick off at Korjaamo in Helsinki on Saturday, February 28th, and comes with an open invitation for people to host their own sisuesque events all over the world. You can check out more of the details here and learn how to set up an event in your community. This event officially adds "sisu" to the Finnish calendar for the first time in its 500 year history and will continue to grow in future years-- it's quite the undertaking and pretty awesome if you ask me!
On Tuesday, March 10th, there will also be a global challenge called the "Hour of Sisu". Between 3 PM and 4 PM (your local time) Emilia is encouraging you to do one thing that you know will benefit you, but is something that you have been putting off. Maybe it’s something scares you but which will help you push your boundaries in a healthy, empowering way. The goal is to turn these boundaries (e.g. fear, uncertainty, complacency or desire for comfort) into frontiers.
So, what will I be doing to participate on the 28th? Two things!
1) I'll be sharing a blog post compiling all of the definitions for "sisu" that I have gathered over the past year of research for the play. Want to contribute? There's still plenty of time. Send an email to: [email protected] with the answers to these two questions: What does sisu mean to you? Where do you get your sisu? and I'll add your response to the list!
2) I'm hosting a small personal gathering in Los Angeles, CA in partnership with Chekov Studio International and Helsinki West to dig a little deeper and to hear more stories from the Finnish American community and to hone in a little more closely on what it means to have "sisu" as an artist. Click HERE for more information and to RSVP. After the session, I'll share a re-cap with some thoughts (and possibly some video) from the session.
If you've just found yourself on my site for the first time, please check out ABOUT THE PROJECT to learn more about the play I am writing about my family and my mom, who had more "sisu" than anyone I have ever met.
-PC
P.S. Want to know more about sisu and how Emilia defines it? Check out her recent talk from TEDx Turku!