About the site

I needed a place for connecting and handling all my activities. That is the overall reason for the site. I simply needed a site to refer to, from the web sites I have, and a site to refer to, when I'm out giving lectures and whatever else I get involved in. So that is the site in itself.

In February 2015 I became a dad, when Lucas was born. That parenting thing has a way of changing your perspective in life.

I grew up with an extended middle finger towards the Jante Law and mediocrity. You form your own life, on your own terms, by applying diligence and resilience. My mom and dad were both breakers of their social heritage, long before this was a thing, and they formed their own place in life, which was fundamentally different from their parent's life. This was actually quite an achievement, in an age where you normally just stayed in your place, without questioning anything. They followed their dream instead of following the beaten path. I became one of the breakers of the social heritage myself. It is one of the phenomena they talk a lot about in Denmark these days, and being a breaker of the social heritage is supposed to be a good thing. Personally I always thought that was BS, as all I did was to follow my dream instead of letting other people dictate what I was going to do with my life. It has never been a matter of rebellion or feeling special, it has only been a matter of pursuing my dreams. You only have one life, so you have to enjoy it as much as possible and just put the pedal to the metal. It's as simple as that. Imagine getting to the end of the road in life and be sorry about all the things you didn't do, instead of thinking Woooohoooo!!!!... what a ride! and take pleasure in all the things you did do. That would be all kinds of stupid!

Since February 2015 I have become more aware of how I think and act. What is it we leave for our kids? What is it we leave for the World? It would be damn pathetic, if all we contributed with was overpopulation, pollution and way too much CO₂ for the plants.

One of the contributions I would like to have made, when I croak some day (besides a son having a life he is happy with, created and shaped by himself), is knowledge for anyone to use, free of charge... and inspiration to use it. It is a bit saddening that we have these insane amounts information at our disposal on the Internet, and what are people doing? Watching videos of cats doing cute stuff! We simply have to do better than that!

It has been said, that you can't take your wealth with you, when you die. That sounds about right... but more importantly, what the devil would I want with all that stuff, when I'm lying in the ground, pushing up daisies? Wealth, both material and immaterial, only works when put to work for the benefit of the living. For obvious reasons I have no idea how big Pilgaard Legacy will be, or how long it will exist, but I do hope for the best.

One of the things that has always been able to make me go ballistic, was people withholding knowledge. I have met a lot of small minded people who would rather let a project get off track, or be delayed, than sharing their knowledge. Students who got a sense of power, by possessing and withholding knowledge that other needed. My head feels like exploding, when people do something as retarded as that!

One of my own priorities has been that I was not the one to fix/solve other peoples problems or assignments. I'm not the one who comes flying to the rescue, dressed in a cape and long underwear, fixing everything. Forget it! My role is being a coach. I make knowledge available and ask all the unpleasant questions. We need knowledge in circulation among people, and that only happens, if they have to make an effort to get what they want. Knowledge comes from taking things apart, and insight comes from putting them back together again. It is just like cooking. You don't learn how to cook by having other people doing it for you, you learn by working the ingredients and experimenting. The coach is the one who can support and guide. A lot of people hate that attitude, and often I have listened to endless lists of excuses for not doing whatever was needed, since I could do them in no time, but that is not how the help works.

Because the objective is getting knowledge in circulation, this is a standing invitation to pass knowledge on to others. It doesn't have to be a big project like the one I'm building here. Something as simple as helping people who look lost, by pointing them in the right direction, is a start. Something as simple as putting away that god damn phone and talk to your kid about what is going on right now would be an outstanding contribution!

I had to call it something. There is nothing particularly magical or noble about the name. Pilgaard was the name of a homestead/farm at the outskirts of the city Kaas in Northern Jutland. My paternal grandfather took the name as the family name instead of Nielsen. Legacy is a cultural and occupational injury. My language is completely bastardized from having read, written and spoken a mixture of Danish and English for more than 30 years, and it had to be a name that also work outside Denmark, so, very appropriately, the name also became a linguistic bastard.