“What world needs now, is” sisu, Finnish sisu! “Sisu, The Finnish Art of Courage,” authored by Joanna Nylund, offers the Finnish word as a verb, not a noun, but as something we inspire in each other to take action. After Finland gained independence following WWI, sisu gained popularity and went global after the Winter War of 1939. Sisu made Finnish people among the most nonhierarchical, freest, happiest and most prosperous in the world.
The power of sisu is the spirit to fight for what you believe in without asking anyone for permission for doing what is right. Sisu unveils character, courage, integrity and inspires respect for each other in overcoming hardship. Sisu is an attitude that invites others to take positive action by reaching beyond their comfort zone.
Sisu is an individual capacity for independent thinking, daring to be different, beginning with acting alone, but also motivating others toward collective action. Finland extended to women the right to vote and run for elected office in 1906, the first European nation to do so. Finnish people believe in social equality, pulling together in fairness and integrity.
Sisu is the “second wind” in personal struggle to overcome very difficult challenges, as it is with working together in concert, one for all and all for one. There is strength in numbers. Enduring severe weather and climate in Finland during four solid months of winter when days are extremely short and nights are long has helped to cultivate tenacity, perseverance and resilience that sisu makes possible.
Destroying political democracy, gross inequality, economic dictatorship, climate catastrophe, disinformation, struggling middle/working classes, mass shootings are enormous obstacles to freedom, prosperity, and well-being. Sisu, a universal human trait, exhibited by the Finnish people awaits discovery by Americans in confronting authoritarian oligarchic rule. United we stand, divided we fall. May the power of sisu be with you!
Harold Honkola
Stillwater