You are unique - there is,never was and never will be another you - it took the Universe many billions of years to make you out of once was and one will be again, star dust - dust that walks and talks, thinks and ponders, like and dislikes, is liked and not liked, eats and drinks and produces waste ...
So, VALUE yourself, respect yourself, don't worry about what others think or say about you.
Three rules for every living thing: we come through the wall of birth and head to the wall of death, kept apart by the Breath - appreciate that and give gratitude for it(to whoever or whatever you want), for without it we will not be here, on Earth.
Appreciate and try to enjoy our time here - seek peace, joy and fulfilment within as it is unlikely that the world or other people will lead you there.
Do not try to build oneself up by putting others down.
Do not waste time moaning or worrying about that which it is not within your power to change, but focus alone or together on what can be improved better for us all.
Keep the company of those that we like and want to be like - walk away from those that are not in keeping with who we want to be.
Don't strive for success in the eyes of others - just BEING HERE you are a success and no opinion should deny that!
Don't argue over beliefs - everyone has their own and they are only beliefs -focus on what you KNOW.
Get your inner candle lit - it must surely be better to live in the Light of Knowledge of SELF than in the darkness of ignorance and fear.
Do not envy or be jealous of others - be happy with the fact that you are alive and that is the greatest think of all.
KNOW YOURSELF - your truth self, not just your mind or body - but who you really are - and for those that don't know, seek that first - and for those that do, maybe try to help others find their way.
Try to follow your "heart" rather than just your thoughts.
Try to enjoy life without harming others or ones surroundings.
The heart of the story: At its simplest, If Only Suomi is a love story built around time travel. The premise is that Al, coming from 2028, travels back to 1972 for just three days. While there, he falls in love with Suomi. He then has to return to his own time, leaving the woman he loves in the past. The central emotional question is therefore not just "Can you travel through time?" but "What would you do if you found the love of your life in the wrong time?"
That gives the novel a strong feeling of longing and regret. The phrase If Only becomes almost a philosophy: If only I could go back. If only I had made a different choice. If only I could see that person again.
The really unusual part: is it fiction? This is where the book gets much more intriguing.
Buffry's own introduction says that he doesn't see the book as fitting neatly into fiction or non-fiction. He describes it as containing elements of memories, dreams, prophecy and wishful thinking, and suggests that it is "some sort of time travel"—even if that travel takes place only in the mind.
So you can read it on at least two levels:
1. As science fiction:
Al literally travels from 2028 to 1972, creating the classic problems of time travel—paradoxes, changing the past, and potentially altering or erasing one's own future.
2. As a psychological story:
The time travel can be understood metaphorically. Human beings constantly travel through time in their minds. We remember the past, dream about it, imagine alternative versions of our lives, and wonder what might have happened if we had made different decisions.
Buffry explicitly plays with this idea of "dreams within dreams" and asks where the boundary lies between dreams, memories, imagination and reality.
The time-travel paradoxes
The book also seems to be interested in the classic philosophical problems of time travel.
Buffry's description specifically raises the possibility of someone travelling back and changing their own past—and even the possibility of "wiping oneself out of time altogether."
That makes the book less about scientific explanations of time travel and more about the philosophical consequences of it.
Why 1972 matters
The choice of 1972 is particularly interesting because it connects the fictional premise with Buffry's own life and interests. Buffry was born in 1950, and his bibliography includes autobiographical and travel works connected with the 1970s, including All About My Hat: The Hippy Trail 1972.
The book's combination of romance + time travel + dreams + autobiography is more significant than the straightforward plot summary suggests. Buffry describes the book as involving memories, dreams, prophecies and wishful thinking, and says it contains a kind of time travel "if only in the mind." He asks whether there is a meaningful difference between dreams and memories and talks about "dreams within dreams."
This means that the book may be deliberately making us question whether literal time travel is even the most important kind of time travel.
Based on the author's own framing, I would interpret the ending less as a conventional "the time machine worked and here's exactly what happened" resolution and more as a deliberately blurred boundary between reality, memory, dreams and alternate possibilities.
The book's premise of Al returning to 1972 and falling in love with Suomi is so powerful.
Buffry's own description strongly suggests that the book intentionally refuses to draw a firm line between what happened, what was remembered, what was dreamed and what was wished for.
READERS' COMMENTS
A Curious and Compelling Tale: Brem Campbell
I’ve just finished reading Alun Buffry’s If Only Suomi, and found it both enchanting and intriguing. It’s an unusual tale that plays with time and the dream world, weaving an intricate narrative that remains clear and compelling throughout. I read it in a single day — a testament to how impossible it was to put down.
Buffry seems to draw on real-life relationships, portraying the people in Suomi’s orbit with warmth and affection. His love for the French woman, Suomi, is especially touching and beautifully rendered. The alternation between the 1970s and the present day adds depth, offering thoughtful contrasts between the two eras and enriching the story’s emotional landscape.
If Only Suomi is an original and fascinating book. I recommend it highly.
Wonderful: Anon
FABULOUS
Quirky, fun sci-fi, journeying to 70's counter culture: Lisa McKenna
A quirky and enjoyable read, journeying through time from 2028 back to the counter culture of the 1970s. Time travel, dreams or both? A tale of love, multi-layered with many twists and ambitious in it's scope. Fusing sci-fi, love and asking questions about the 'reality' of reality, exploring quantum entanglement and much more, you are in for quite a ride! Lovely illustrations too.
Clever and thought-provoking love story: Joey Caston
I found the fusion of genres very interesting and the concept of time travel was conveyed in a innovative way. The 70s was perfectly recounted and remembered by Al. The musings and wistful thoughts of travelling back were touching and thoughtfully written. The characters were like old family friends and I loved all of the music and cannabis references! A very unique tale with clever ideas to engage even the most esteemed scientists, hippies and lovers alike. Charming and will stay in my memory until I die (or travel back in time).
Loved it: Lenny A
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and Im left wanting more from this author.
Artificial
Ignorance: I really don’t know.
Artificial
Indifference: I don’t care.
Artificial Inaccuracy:
About two gallons.
Artificial Irritability: Will you stop
asking me stupid questions and just bugger off!
Artificial
Irrelevancy: The Battle of Hastings was in 1066.
Artificial
Inability: I am sorry I cannot tell you the answer:
Artificial
Invisibility: Please turn on your camera.
Artificial
Incontinence: Sorry, I’ve just sprung a leak.
Artificial
Indecisiveness: I an uncertain so I won’t just guess.
Artificially
Insecurity: I am not feeling confident enough to give you an answer.
Artificial
Inconsistency: There is one gallon of water on the moon. There are
two million litres of water on the Moon.
Artificial
Instagramming: Mono, Omon, Nomo, Noom
Death is liberation
From all consternation.
Some think reincarnation.
Some think devastation.
But beyond expectation,
Defying explanation,
Is a transformation
That is liberation.
Have no fear, shed no tear,
Ask no seer, it’s where we’re,
Heading for that wall,
We’ll rise, we will not fall.
The gift that is creation,
Through joy and trepidation,
We travel to cessation
As here and now our destination.
We give some consideration,
In temporal adoration,
Imagine situations,
Beyond perpetuation.
Just focus on the light within,
That frees us from imaginary sin,
Let gratitude for life begin,
And clarity and love will win.
I am pleased to read this review of my book "If Only Suomi"
" I’ve just finished reading Alun Buffry’sI f Only Suomi, and found it both enchanting and intriguing. It’s
an unusual tale that plays with time and the dream world, weaving an
intricate narrative that remains clear and compelling
throughout. I read it in a single day — a testament to how impossible
it was to put down.
"Buffry seems to draw on real-life
relationships, portraying the people in Suomi’s orbit with warmth and
affection. His love for the French woman, Suomi, is especially touching
and beautifully rendered. The alternation between the
1970s and the present day adds depth, offering thoughtful contrasts
between the two eras and enriching the story’s emotional landscape.
"If Only Suomi is an original and fascinating book. I recommend it highly."
I’m here, I know, through Divine Grace,
A member of the Human Race,
A body, soul, a mind and face,
A Blessed Lifetime I can trace.
I hope to stay here for while
And walk about, many more miles
And try to make you others smile,
And even laugh, once in a while.
Even though I’ve shed some tears,
When I think I’ve lost a loved one dear,
I know my time will come, I must not fear,
Let’s drink to that, some tea or beer!
For there beyond that mystery wall,
Where we will rise, we will not fall,
That Light Divine, will make its call,
For us to enter where goes it all.
Life sometimes seems just like a dream,
Not always seeming as it seems,
Inside the darkness, always a beam,
Though I wondered what it all means.
For Grace, I need the gratitude,
Whatever feelings, whatever my mood,
That Light that shines offers a clue,
Of times ahead I must go through,
For me it’s not about that time,
For now’s the time for me to shine,
For here and now we are Divine,
On Planet Earth, gracefully mine.
Always to be found in this the same place,
Throughout our universe of time and space,
On I will travel, at my own pace,
Can you now see it, in my face?
Never to question how or why,
Upon this earth I find I,
Content and amazed beneath earth's sky,
Yet soaring above white clouds on high.
Hidden within us there is a clue.
It looks like I, it looks like you
For once we were one and that is true,
Now one of so many amongst quite a few.
There is a Love, there is a Light,
Forget any guilt, ignore any fright,
Focus within on a wondrous sight,
The future is now and it's ever so Bright.
I’m here, I know, through Divine Grace,
A member of the Human Race,
A body, soul, a mind and face,
A Blessed Lifetime I can trace.
I hope to stay here for while
And walk about, many more miles
And try to make you others smile,
And even laugh, once in a while.
Even though I’ve shed some tears,
When I think I’ve lost a loved one dear,
I know my time will come, I must not fear,
Let’s drink to that, some tea or beer!
For there beyond that mystery wall,
Where we will rise, we will not fall,
That Light Divine, will make its call,
For us to enter where goes it all.
Life sometimes seems just like a dream,
Not always seeming as it seems,
Inside the darkness, always a beam,
Though I wondered what it all means.
For Grace, I need the gratitude,
Whatever feelings, whatever my mood,
That Light that shines offers a clue,
Of times ahead I must go through,
For me it’s not about that time,
For now’s the time for me to shine,
For here and now we are Divine,
On Planet Earth, gracefully mine.
