TABLE TALK #144
There’s a theory we’ve been turning over this week - one that starts in Helsinki and ends somewhere much closer to home.
It's called the Helsinki Bus Station Theory, and while it sounds like a riddle wrapped in a route map, it’s actually one of the most quietly helpful bits of advice we’ve come across for anyone doing… well, anything.
🍝 MAIN COURSE 🍝
The theory was first introduced in a 2004 graduation speech by Finnish-American photographer Arno Minkkinen. Speaking to a room of young creatives, Minkkinen compared the journey of a career - especially a creative one - to navigating the central bus station in Helsinki.
The setup goes like this: in Helsinki’s main terminal, there are two dozen platforms, each with several bus lines. No matter which bus you board, the first part of your route looks eerily similar. For the first kilometre or so, every bus makes the same stops, tracing the same streets, stopping at the same signs.
And then - eventually - the roads start to fork. The crowds thin out. Your route becomes your own.
Minkkinen’s point? At the start of any creative journey, things often feel derivative. You might find your early work (or early weeks at a new job) looking suspiciously like someone else’s. You try something new, only to realise it’s already been done. You take your three pieces of work or weeks of effort and proudly present them, only to be told they resemble someone else's portfolio, voice, or strategy. So you hop off. Start again. A different platform, a new project. The cycle repeats.
But the breakthrough - the development of your own style, ideas, momentum - only comes when you stay on the bus. When you resist the urge to jump ship too soon. When you commit to the mundane bits. To the middle part of the map.
Credit: James Clear
And while this idea first landed in the world of photography, its relevance stretches far beyond it. Anyone who’s ever begun something new - a job, a project, a business, a recipe - will know this feeling. The awkward early days when nothing quite fits and everything feels already done.
But maybe originality isn’t about finding a brand new path - but sticking with one long enough to make it yours.
That’s the real lesson here. The early stage of anything worthwhile can feel generic. You might start a job and feel like an outsider. You might launch something that gets compared to everything else. Your best ideas might still be stuck at the depot. But that’s just the route out of the city. Eventually, the stops thin out. Your bus starts to turn.
Helsinki Bus Station
Photo Credit: Sasha Dichter
Photo Credit: Sasha Dichter
🍮 SWEET ENDINGS 🍮
We’ve seen it ourselves. When we started Wednesday’s Domaine, we took inspiration from so many brands we admire - their commitment to design, their storytelling and the craft that went into their products.
Some might say it’s fashionable to see yourself as a challenger brand. But if we’re honest, we weren’t trying to rewrite the entire rulebook. We just wanted to make something alcohol-free that actually held its own.
And while we were among the first non-alcoholic wine brands in the UK, we were also just one of many trying to find our voice, carve out our lane, and make something that tasted like us.
And while we were among the first non-alcoholic wine brands in the UK, we were also just one of many trying to find our voice, carve out our lane, and make something that tasted like us.
So if you’re in the thick of something new - maybe not loving it yet, maybe unsure whether it’s yours - that doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong bus.
It probably just means you haven’t reached your stop yet.
It probably just means you haven’t reached your stop yet.
Stay on the bus.
🍷 WHAT'S NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE? 🍷
I’m writing this from Amsterdam, where I’ve just seen our bottles on shelf at Albert Heijn for the very first time.
It’s always surreal and a little emotional seeing something we made out in the wild, but especially so when somewhere new and overseas. A quiet moment of pride - and yes, a camera roll now full of drinks aisle snaps.
Until next time,
Luke x
Luke x
