Markus the Horse & me / photo: Lisa Bregneager

LANGUAGE OF THE HEART

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As I was writing the September chapter of my book At tjene øjeblikket. En lærlings almanak (Serving the Moment. Almanac of an Apprentice) it struck me how society prompts us to overhear the language of the heart. It is all about making the right choices fast, starting early on, escalating for young people in the education system, and more or less continuing to retirement. Many of us are told to not listen to our hearts, and to be reasonable and rational instead.

The heart, however, is quite clever. It always knows what's right for you, right now. It can't lie, it can't be strategic, it won't gaslight you. Its language is pretty simple, often narrowed down to a clear 'yes' or 'no'. Choosing your path in life based on listening to your heart's gentle whisper, can potentially move you far away from the road most traveled, the life course of the mainstream. This is controversial, unconventional, and often met with scepticism by others. This we know - and it can keep us from straying away on rewilded heart expeditions.

I met a man who has listened deeply to the wisdom of his heart. His name is Lasse Nyholm Jensen.

Mådehold (Temperance)

The book is an apprentice's journey of consciousness, like the Fool's journey of Tarot. Matilde Maria Rasmussen has illustrated the 12 chapters, the foreword and the afterword. Lasse Nyholm Jensen's being and practice is Temperance, modesty, balance, being in right relationship. The depicted building is Lasse's design. See the real one here

Lasse is an architect whose heart said NO to jobs and steady income, and YES to living alone (most of the time) on the island of Funen, self-sufficient and most often creating, carving, knitting, building something, large or small. When I visited Lasse, he didn't have many words to share with me about his time alone with his wood, the wool, the hens, or the vegetable garden. This is funny, because Lasse sometimes speaks A LOT and fast, too: he is a Danish champion of poetry slam, winning the title several times. But he did share that it's the wood, the wool, the hens, the garden that talk to him, that call out for him. They require his presence. Some shout, some whisper. He listens. He learns.

This chapter is about being and gentle doing. It is about the language of the heart and joyful choices. When I got ready to leave Lasse that day after a couple of hours of conversation, he told me, much to my surprise, that he opens the kitchen door each morning and says a prayer, right there on the doorstep. He has been saying the same one for eight years. He shared it with me, and he shares it with the readers of my book, too. It is a beautiful prayer, a beautiful practice, these words to the hens, the trees and the wind, this talking to all that is.

With love,

Birgitte

- this weekend I will embark on a new adventure: a course on animal listening, animal telepathy! I have to figure out what the wise horses bear in their giant hearts! I'll let you know what I hear.