My name is Eiri – I’m Finnish by birth, Spanish by heart, citizen of the world by soul… and Chinese by name… or not quite, but…
Eiri is a very odd Finnish name (since 1900 only 62 people have been registered with this name…I was named after my godmother) so when I was younger, I got so frustrated when people always got my name wrong.
In my early 30’s I was in Lausanne, Switzerland, attending a summer French language course and one of my classmates was a Chinese guy. He asked me if I knew what my name meant in Chinese. When I said no idea, he wrote it down.
There is no letter R in Chinese, so it is spelled as the letter L. When I saw that EI means LOVE and RI (LI) means BEAUTIFUL, all my previous frustrations regarding my name disappeared and ever since then I have been in love with my unique name and treasure it – it makes me who I am. Also it is most fitting as love has always been, still is and always will be the driving force in my life and in everything that I do.
When after graduating high school, it was time to decide what to do with my life I was quite at a loss as there were so many different things that interested me. As a result I have done quite a variety of things like working as a bank teller, switchboard operator (when they still had those…), travel agent, secretary, team assistant, personal assistant, HR assistant, customer service agent… you name it and I probably have done it. I have worked for small companies, multinational companies, humanitarian organizations… and in Finland and abroad. I have enjoyed most of my jobs, but none felt like “the one” that I would feel passionate about and would enjoy doing for the rest of my life.
In 2021 I started thinking about what I really wanted to do, what would make me happy, what would be so much fun that it would not even feel like work. I’ve always been quite creative and done things in a little “outside the box” -way that not everybody gets. But we are all our unique selves and that is what makes the world a very interesting place to live in – so just live and let live without hurting others.
Apart from doing something that would make me happy, I wanted to do something that what would make me feel like I was doing something that would help others by making them feel good and give them joy. I pondered upon what skills I have that could be turned into a small business and what interests I have that also could be included. And finally I got my answer…
Since a very young age I have sewn and knitted as did my mother – in my twenties I made most of my clothes myself. In the fall of 2021 I started knitting classic wool beanies and sold them to my friends. They became quite the hit item so I thought maybe selling handmade knitted items could become the other part of my future. The downside was that wool beanies are not needed in the summertime, so more ideas were needed. Slowly but surely, they started popping into my head and they keep on popping… Be sure not to miss anything new happening and follow me on Instagram at @orange_heart_healing_creations and check my online shop.
I have also always been interested in wellness and alternative healing methods but had not formed myself in any of them until autumn 2021 when I trained to become a reiki energy healer. I’m currently giving reiki therapy for women in Helsinki, Finland and remotely to everybody interested wherever you are in the world.
So, from a passion to an idea to a vision board to a small business…
Orange Heart Healing & Creations was born!