In the beginning of this year this wild shining woman came into our gardens in Bali. Her and I simply could not stop talking and the inspiration was overflowing. Our tea-sipping, flowers & incense filled, chocolate covered moment turned into an interview which she put together; with some stuff about my life-journey and perspectives on it all.
In the end of September Lykke is organizing a “Wild Wild Wise” evening event in Copenhagen where we continue the overflowin’.
Thank you Lykke Junker for your amazingness!
How would you describe the life you & your beautiful daughter Ayisha are living in Bali today?
Our life has a sense of freedom, which I feel in my whole being. It is a way of moving in daily life where an uncompromising respect for connection with our deepest true values, intuition and self-care is at the core of how we make choices when it comes to what we do. This is so in every detail of life; health, beauty, relationships & specifically in our creativity. We live close to nature, we put the wellbeing of our souls at the core of our lives and we are together in a deep feeling of collaboration with ourselves, each other and the community we have around us.
How did you came to create the amazing and beautiful Trinity Gardens?
When we first arrived in Bali 6 years ago we had this very sweet feeling of ”home”. The soft breeze on the skin, the scent of flowers and insence in the air, the softness of the people… all of it called us to consider the possibility of being here in a way which would support our creativity and learning. I had just met a beautiful man in my life and in our meeting there was such creative playful innocence and wild ideas. We found a house in an amazing location which was for sale and kind of jumped into it with a spontaneity beyond logic. As we both had been working with design and interior of houses for many years as soon as we came to the house the ideas of what we could do to make the full potential of the place come forth started to sprout. As we redesigned the existing house almost totally we worked with such a great team of local builders, artists and designers that one thing led to the other and several houses were created. All as the gardens grew and blossomed. We created in a similar way as kids are building a treehouse in the forest; almost surprised when there were suddenly so many houses there.
What are the gifts you are harvesting from being & living true to your heart & spirit?
A sense of wonder, curiousity and joy that is always there in my body and soul. As if every day is a sweet adventure of learning, loving, creating and connecting. The many many amazing places I have experienced, people I have met and projects I have created.
What is your guiding line in terms of living a true & soulful life?
There are some different ones, but I would say at the core it is something like; always, with no compromise, create space and time in daily life to deeply and fully listen to what my soul is calling me to. Another thing is to treasure and care for close friends, it is like real gold to have close people in life.
Has it been difficult to make the choices you have? And if yes in what way?
Sometimes it has been challenging and scary. Mostly actually because of obeing questioned by people around me. Critizism of me being too much in different ways.
What does beauty & creativity mean to you?
It means a lot; it is like a lifeline which I just can not live without. Like something as natural as air and water around me. I always simply have to create beauty around me where ever I am, with what I have, and I always want to create new thing. I love being multi-creative, expressing through many different mediums. I believe that if we are left to ourselves we are all naturally creative and make beauty around us all the time, in our own unuqie way.
What is your life/souls philosophy?
In a simple way I can say; this moment of reality holds everything that is needed to be/express the most real beauty of oneself. The light and the darkness are always both as valuable for what we need to blossom. Everything is possible to live when we feel the fullness of our life-force and when we listen sweetly to what is the natural movement of our soul. To be wild and creative takes a lot of courage but is worth every minute of the innocence that is reclaimed through it.
Can you tell us a little about the concept you have developed ”Spirited Living”?
I will quote some from my website:
Spirited Living is a practical philosophy opening wholeness through feeling all aspects of our lives; health, beauty, relationship and creativity, from a perspective of radical naturalness. When these aspects are all equally cared for, our lives are inspired with a continuous alive inquiry that intimately weaves authentic beauty in our lives.
Spirited Living is being created in my living sense that spirituality, sexuality and creativity are all alive as one at the center of being human. When we approach these aspects as interrelated we are deeply connected to the most simple way of being ourselves, and naturally express our most authentic creative gifts. As human beings we manifest the meeting between space and form, stillness and movement... and as we constantly live in the dynamic of this meeting, we are alive as the inherent sacredness of all life.
To live a spirited life is where the beginning and the end come together and a journey where the authenticity of how we show up with whatever is the case is more important than what shows up in any given moment. The wild perfection of any given moment is our temple.
Spirited Living is a place where the relaxation into the divine emptiness and the unique fullness of the alive spiral which we are, is uncovered. It is a possibility to curiously, in a raw way and without judgment, explore life with a deep sense of wonder.
Daily life can be a natural ritual when we see, accept and create with all seeming counterparts. Darkness and light, simplicity and complexity, emptiness and fullness, freedom and love – are all components of authentic human living and dying, of real unconditional beauty.
What does it mean to you to be a woman in this life, in these times? What do you think our greatest task as women of today is?
I feel it is an honor to be a woman. It is extremely powerful and very vulnerable at the same time. I feel that there is a connection between women in the world today, and with Mother Earth, which has such a huge potentil within it. I think the task is to do one of the most radical things we can do; learn how to take deep, deep care of ourselves. And from that self-care we listen to the unique creative calling we have, connect with other women and work together to naturally share love and care in every way possible, as an integrated part of our daily life.
What are you most grateful for today?
I am grateful for my bare feet on the ground, the air around me, the trees and flowers. I am grateful for my beautiful daughter and my amazing friends. And I am so happy for my own soul to be such a rebel always willing to find new ways to live wild and free in the midst of a world system which seems like a prison a lot of the time.
How do you make sure that you keep listening and check in with your heart/spirit in terms of being open to new adventures?
I am uncompromisingly creating space every day for silence, being in nature, journaling, talking deeply with friends, to be inspired by different things and give of my unique creativity.
Do you have a personal practice that keep you in allignment and help you stay present through everyday life?
In one way I can say that my whole life is my practice. It is what I mean with ”The Wonder of Rituals” that the way I wake up in the morning, the way I move through my day with the simple things is like a practice, like a ritual for what is truly important. I also do more specific things like walking, yoga, meditation, reading etc.
What is your number one advice to other women, who have a deep longing for living a more soulful, heartcenteret and spirited life?
It would be to make sure to create space to stop, preferably for at least a full day now and then… to have time to be alone, sensually nourishing the body and soul and to ask the core important questions to yourself about life & death. To have time to listen to what is there. To allow sorrow to come forth and let it guide the choices for life. To trust that sadness is a very great source of truth and wisdom. It wants to say something important if you let it be naked and simply felt.