HYGGE

The Danish call it hygge (prounced hue-gah).  There are many definitions of hygge but they basically come down to living a life well.  Louisa Thomsen Brits describes hygge this way in her book "the book of hygge - the Danish art of living well", "It is therein the rhythm of your daily life, in your habits, routines and rituals."  and "It can be found in asking yourself where you feel most at home, what are the activities and customs that anchor you, who makes you feel at ease, what is it that contributes most to your sense of welling, what do you do to unwind, what do you reach for to create comfort?" 

Basically, it's the rituals of our life that make us feel happy.  It's the small as well as the large things. It's the way we decorate our home as well as the lighting of a candle on the dinner that makes us feel warm and comfortable.  This concept has caught the attention of many as people around the world as many are trying to find more happiness in their lives to balance the increasing chaos of the world, the feeling of safety.

Each of will define hygge a bit differently and that's okay, that's the way it's supposed to be. You can hygge everything about your life from putting warm, cozy flannel sheets and a down comforter on your bed in winter with plenty of plump pillows to hygger your morning ritual of lighting a candle before you start your coffee or cup of tea and sitting and enjoying it instead of taking your cup with you to the bathroom and sipping on it while you put your makeup on or you rush off to start up your computer to look at emails and social media.

So where am I taking hygge and my blog?  I plan on sharing ways I'm adding or removing things in my life to help balance it and to increase my pleasure.  The current "glamping" trend is a form of hygge and I'll share as we continue our rebuild of my camper.  Organizing, especially with the help of books like "the life-changing magic of tidying up - the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing".  From what I've read the Danish apparently decorate somewhat spartan like and without a lot of clutter. I hope to remove things that aren't causing me pleasure so I can enjoy my space more. The trend towards slow cooking and cooking meals at home is also a form of hygge and I will continue to share more menu plans and recipes.  So there won't be a ton of changes, I just have a name for it now and will focus my posts in this direction.




If you'd like to read about hygge, there are a growing number of books about hygge on the market with several scheduled to be released later this year and early next year.  There are several books on the topic available for free with Kindle Unlimited.  I have two in my reading queue that I'm getting ready to read and will review when I finish them.

"the book of hygge" that I mentioned above is somewhat of a philosophical look at hygge.  I find this book reads best if read in short blocks of time.  Unfortunately this is in printed book form only and you can't get it on Kindle at this time. I picked up a nice hardback of it used.  The photography is awesome.  The pictures give one a feeling of warmth as you read.  This is a book you'll read over and over to get all the nuggets from it.


The book that introduced me to the concept of hygge was "The Year of Living Danishly" by Helen Russell.  It was an interesting book about a Brit who moves to Denmark when her husband takes a job with Lego and the book describes a year's time of her trying to adjust to living in a new country and it's customs, which includes hygge.  She doesn't go into much detail about hygge, but she does mention it several times which caught my interest.  I have this book on audio through Audible.

The Cozy Life: Rediscover the Joy of the Simple Things Through the Danish Concept of Hygge by Pia Edberg can be bought fairly cheaply on Kindle or in printed form and is a nice introduction on the subject of hygge.  It's a free read if you have Kindle Unlimited.  It describes things you can do to make life cozier.  It's a nice short read.