This post was meant to be about gratitude, but the words took a detour through ADHD, blog categories, and a quiet sunrise. Sometimes, all you can do is follow where the words want to go.
Sunrise and Sleeplessness
This morning, I witnessed a sunrise. Sure, I often wake up early – but today it was very early. I don’t sleep well here in the camper, and I miss my bed at home. Writing that makes me feel ungrateful. Not everyone has a camper to sleep badly in. I try to remind myself to be thankful – for the freedom, the quiet, and the fact that we can go wherever we want, whenever we want.
Next Trip Already Planned
Yesterday, my husband started planning our next little trip. It’s already happening this Thursday – a visit to Borås Zoo with Alfred, his mom, and her partner. They’ll go for the day, but we’ll bring the camper and maybe stay longer. I think he’s planning something bigger, but first stop: Borås.
Structure, Blogging and ADHD – A Tangle Searching for Order
Yesterday I sat here, tinkering with my blog. Trying to organize it. I’ve started adding categories to make it easier to navigate. Old posts from 2009 to 2013 are now in their own group – like a little time capsule. Some posts are treasures, others… well. But I won’t delete them. I’m trying to see them with kind eyes – and I hope you will too.
Structuring a blog when you have ADHD isn’t exactly smooth sailing. For me, it’s like trying to clean a room while someone keeps moving the furniture around in my head. ADHD affects focus, impulse control, time management, and staying power. Starting is easy – finishing, not so much. And the “red thread”? More like a yarn tangle.
Still – this blog has shown my persistence. I’ve written for so many years, about so many things. Maybe my ADHD shows up here too: I follow impulses, the words come fast, I jump between topics. But I keep going. That is a kind of structure. Maybe not the traditional kind, but mine. With AI’s help, I can now make more sense of it – even if it still means hours of staring confusedly at the screen.
ADHD in Everyday Life: ADHD affects executive function – planning, impulse control, emotional regulation – but it also brings creativity, intense focus (sometimes), and rich emotional depth. For many, including me, it’s not just a diagnosis. It’s a way of being in the world.
Heading Home – and Longing for Coffee
Today, we’re heading back home. Time to pack up, unpack the camper, do laundry, and check in on the greenhouse and my little garden. I’m looking forward to sitting under the pavilion and writing there instead of under our camper’s awning.
And the coffee. Oh, how I miss my coffee machine. Out here, it’s just regular drip coffee – even if I grind the beans myself. It’s not the same. Sure, I can froth the milk even in the camper – but who has the energy for that first thing in the morning? It’s a plain cup with a bit of milk. Nothing like the real deal at home.
Callouts – let me ask you…
Do you struggle with creating structure in your everyday life – especially with ADHD? What does gratitude mean to you, especially on days when everything feels off? Have you ever read your old writing with kind eyes?
Reflection
Sometimes it’s all a bit much. Gratitude that rubs against exhaustion. Longing for my bed and my coffee machine. But also – a sunrise I would have missed if I’d been sleeping deeply. It hits me that life doesn’t have to be either-or. Maybe it gets to be both. Maybe, somewhere in the middle of all the mess, that’s where I’m most myself.
Yesterday already rests in the pages of history. Tomorrow waits somewhere down the road. But right now – this is where life happens. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
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Waking up in the camper on a morning more than just beautifully indescribable. The sky shimmering blue, and the sun already warm enough that I had to move our silver cover to the sunny side. The silence, the smell of coffee, and a campground slowly waking up.
The neighbor in the caravan next to us just went out for a morning walk with their little dog. I had already longed since yesterday to sit out here and write my blog post. I could feel the moment coming already last night as my husband and I sat outside and enjoyed the evening.
A beautiful evening right where we live
When love hides in a song
Then, without even realizing it, he expressed his love for me. He, who’s usually so sparing with words about love in that sense, said: “This song – this one is mine,” as “Tycker om när du tar på mig” ( ”Love when you touch me”) by Per Gessle played. “It’s written with my words and the feeling I have for you.”
He’s not a poet. He doesn’t write. But in that moment, I truly felt his love.
He usually listens to much harder music, but somehow a Gessle song had become his. I’m moved again by the memory. The evening grew even more beautiful. The moment became warmer, softer, whole. Maybe that’s what love feels like – when you know it’s real.
Quote from the heart: ”He never forgets me – he loves me quietly, but deeply.”
When love lives in the small things
I feel it more often now than I used to – but there was something magical about yesterday. My husband is the best kind of husband, and little me… somehow I found him.
He never forgets me. His daily actions are often – nearly always – for my benefit. He wants me to be happy. He does things simply because he knows I like them.
The sea, for example. Making sure we camp near water. Giving me time to write. Letting me be with myself. Making sure I’m okay.
And still, those simple words yesterday – he had no idea how much love lived inside them.
A magical morning in front of the camper
So many words about my husband and love today. Maybe it’s this magical morning. Sometimes in the background I hear a lonely car far away, a dog barking in the distance, birds singing – and the occasional magpie screeching.
The grass is damp with dew, and the summer morning is warm and gentle. I’m lucky enough to sit under the awning outside LVL² and blog – just like I was longing for last night.
Back at Töreboda Camping
We returned to Töreboda Camping this weekend. We were here a few weeks ago. It’s a great place for kids – no jumping pillow, but there’s a pool. It’s close to town, and we’ve promised the little one a visit to Mandy’s Diner.
My husband made a reservation for tonight. The little one has to try their hamburgers – they’re in a class of their own. I don’t even like burgers usually, but I love theirs. We want our boy to have that experience.
Swimming and soft ice cream
Yesterday, I took the little one to the pool. It was crowded and the water was warm – not even cooling. But he wanted to swim, and since I’m the one who loves water, it was me who went in with him.
Afterward, we had soft ice cream on the way back to the camper. So convenient to have my wallet loaded into my Garmin watch – just tap and pay.
A new watch – and kids who figure everything out
Speaking of which, I bought myself a new Garmin watch. My old one – also a Garmin – needed charging every five days, and I got tired of that. This one lasts eleven.
The girl got my old watch, and the boy got the one she received years ago but never used – maybe because it looked “too boyish.”
The little one loves his watch. After just a few days, he’s already figured out all its functions. Every morning he gives me a sleep report, shows me the flashlight feature, and tells me it’s “smart.”
He’s even activated a digital voice that tells him he’s cooler than a penguin and as fantastic as a cat lying in the sun on the grass.
Who even needs things like that? But maybe I’m wrong. If you don’t already carry those feelings inside, maybe you need help practicing them – until you believe them yourself.
Reflective quote: ”Maybe you need to hear it – before you can believe it.”
Callout – What do you think?
Have you ever experienced a morning where everything just felt right?
Has someone said something to you that meant more than they realized?
Do you believe a few kind, silly digital words could actually build self-worth?
Closing words
So what kind of post is this? A jumble of morning thoughts. The coffee’s gone cold – as it usually does when my fingers start writing. I could write ten thousand more words, but who would read them?
Thank you for staying with me all the way to the end. That makes you magical.
Reflection
Sometimes love doesn’t shout – it whispers. It’s not in grand gestures, but in the song that reminds someone of you, the coffee left to grow cold, or the way someone makes space for your joy. And maybe, in a little watch that tells you: “You’re wonderful, just as you are.”
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