Odd Børretzen was a tall, skinny guy with an excellent sense of humour. I always thought him younger than he was, possibly because his jokes were of the sort that never grow old. As a Norwegian, he never tired of explaining to his fellow Norwegians that we're all mad for wanting to live in such a cold and inhospitable place as Norway. But he would also agree that sometimes life in Norway is wonderful, or at least all-right.
Another little favourite of his was to tell everyone how long life is. There's almost no end to it, so don't let anyone fool you into thinking that life is short. It isn't. It's long.
This insight led Børretzen to two conclusions, both formulated in a soft poetic style, with plenty of humour. First of all, there's no point in rushing things. It's not like we're going anywhere. As long as we take care of our daily routines and private responsibilities, we're doing fine. Secondly, if we become too idle, life becomes long for the wrong reasons. We get bored, and time slows down. That's no good. We don't want to get stuck.
Happiness is to do a bit of this and that. To be useful to others but also useful to ourselves. Once we find a pace of life that suits us, and we spread some love on our way, we'll make the world a better place, both for ourselves and others.
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| Odd Børretzen |
By Anne-Lise Reinsfelt / Norsk Folkemuseum - Reinsfelt, Anne-Lise & Reinsfelt, Anne-Lise. Musiker Odd Børretzen. Reinsfelt, Anne-Lise. Europeana. Retrieved on 2014-05-06., CC0, Link
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