To cite Martti Servo, the Finnish singer: ‘Who you are, it’s good to know. Then you can live, like a maestro.’ As the maestro of my own life, I’ve had the chance to try out all kinds of things. It is the only leadership position I have ever had the appetite for, let alone competence.

I have always tried to find truth from various sources, and the closest I have got to it is through arts and philosophy. At their finest, they are paradoxical and have thereby enabled me to recognise and accept life’s conundrums in a more general sense.

When it comes to culture, I tend to be selective, disbelieving in the popularisation of art or philosophy. I defend their elitism to the last.

Seeing things from the perspective of philosophy and aesthetics can be arduous, and for me it’s enough to do it for no more than a couple of hours a day. The rest of the time I’m happy to be a pragmatist, fiddling with everyday matters. The search for truth is like an instrument that I play enthusiastically for my own pleasure without needing to take to the stage.

At the moment, my calling card says ‘Agent and cultural producer for the Ibero-American Foundation of Finland’. I live in Buenos Aires and in my work I try to enhance the visibility and networks of Finnish culture and research in Argentina. It’s an interesting new chapter in my life that involves a new environment and new people. I hope I have the courage to question my prejudices and values, as well as the determination to drop my old social networks when they are no longer needed.

I have tried to change course whenever I feel that my amateurish enthusiasm starts to give way to professionalism. My development has always stopped or at least slowed down when a hobby has become work. I used to work as a cultural secretary, design agent and founder of the Nordic Bakery chain of coffee shops when I was living in London. The decision to change course was a matter of heart and intuition.

The world of professional sports taught me to embrace the fact that there will always be a younger and more competent generation ready to replace the older one. I think the same applies at work as well. A belief in experience or sense of responsibility may become a hindrance when really it is time to move on.

As a humanist, I value modesty and admire people who recognise when they have achieved enough.