“It’s easy to climb a hill with trees, right? Nature keeps you company and gives you shelter. But what happens when the trees end?”

—Karnavaara

Reason

My name is Jesse, and this is my personal, well, let’s say, hub of knowledge. This hub is mainly for me, though it never hurts to have another pair of eyes take a peek at your insights. Please make yourself feel at home.

What’s my main goal here? Well, to be starkly gritty, it’s to survive. My last name, Karnavaara, doesn’t really mean anything apart from “vaara”, which is equivalent to danger or risk. To survive danger (or risks), you must be prepared and lucky. It’s exactly like this famous quote:

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity.”

—SENECA

Seneca had it right. You could wait for luck to happen reactively, or you could proactively prepare for it, all the while honing your skills. And, when luck finally does happen, its scale will be astronomical. But remember, luck can be both good and bad. You shouldn’t only prepare for the good luck, but the bad. This is where the word “danger” comes back into play, and it’s why I created my own meaning (although very abstract) for my last name: Forested Hill of Insight.

From Abstract to Concrete

Although abstract, it’s very pertinent. The hill depicts my life: I want to need to keep climbing. It being forested means it’s filled with trees that together form a forest. Of insight describes the hill with the trees as related to some understanding or knowledge. Indeed, without trees, the hill wouldn’t be of insight. It needs to be forested.

It’s easy to climb a hill ^(life) with trees ^(insight), right? Nature keeps you company and shelters you. But what happens when the trees end? You don’t let them. Someway, you have to keep sowing the seeds of insight and reaping knowledge. If you don’t, the Forested Hill of Insight will wither. And if it does, how are you prepared for the luck (be it bad or good) to come?

For me, it’s (purposefully) personal; I can’t let Karnavaara die. And so, consequently, this place of storing knowledge and diaries was born. But remember, there’s a forest akin to Karnavaara inside each of us. Your forest might look entirely different from mine: the trees and their bark, the diverse ecosystems, and the colors might all differ. But it’s still a forest nonetheless, and you’re its keeper. You make up its legacy, and the forest makes yours.