New Year's Resolutions | Embracing Hygge

My Hyggligt New Year's Resolution, How I'm Embracing Hygge

We've said "so long!" to the old year and the new year is upon us. The festivities are finished and the January blues is statistically ready to set in... But the fun need not be over! The Danes, famously the happiest people in the world, may have the answer we all need to get us through the bleak-looking winter months and beyond... Embracing Hygge! Whilst exchanging Christmas gifts with family by the fire, some candles and a book, The Year Of Living Danishly were unwrapped and I was introduced to a concept I'd only vaguely heard of before; Hygge (pronounced HEW-gah). I'm embracing it wholeheartedly and I encourage you to do the same, so lets get cosy and enter the world of hygge! It's a Scandinavian term which we in the uk have no adequate translation for, the online Oxford Dictionary describes it as: " A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)" As well as being used to describe physical situations or even objects, it is a sort of mood or state of mind and whilst often associated with the feelings engendered by wintery festivities it is not limited to any one season but is a year-round way of being. Hygge can be experienced alone or with friends and family, at home or outdoors, with food and drink or in an armchair with a good book. Sounds a bit vague? Maybe at first but I think I've got the idea and I think it's a really good one... Hygge is about creating spaces, places and time in our lives to feed our souls and connect with our selves, our surroundings, our family and our friends. Hygge means adding a personal touch, filling our homes with love and giving care to our actions. It is about creating, noticing and celebrating simple pleasures; the smell of coffee in the morning, the way the mist rises off the rooftops, the joy of a freshly made bed or a freshly baked loaf. When a home or a situation promotes this way of living it could be described as being hyggeligt; "..the word can be used in many practical but different sentences...as a noun (hygge), an adjective (hyggelig) and a verb (at hygge sig). As in “hygge is important”, “I’m going to make sure my house is hyggely”, and “I’m hyggeling this corner of my house" says Susanne Nilsson, a hygge teacher at Morley College, London. A book I've added to my wish list on Hive is The Book of Hygge by Louisa Thomsen Brits, from the extracts I've read, she really gets to the heart of the hygge; "Hygge is as simple as a candle, lit and placed on a windowsill to welcome someone home. It is both an inner and outer condition of simplicity; a clarity of presence and intention, and an honest, uncomplicated practice. In our over-stimulated lives with so much to distract our attention and pull us in opposing directions, we can turn to hygge as a conscious and appreciative approach to living. Hygge is a timeless practice, an everyday mindfulness that comes from a wholehearted participation in life. Hygge is about having less, enjoying more; the pleasure of simply being." We tend to spend too much time rushing and worrying, stressing and hurrying and forget to take time to be in the present moment and appreciate the life we live and share with those we love. I think the word hygge captures the essence of those moments when we stop and enjoy the ordinary, everyday and are grateful for the simple things. Hygge begs us to slow down, relax and give ourselves a warm hug for the soul. So one of my 2017 New Year's Resolutions is to embrace the art of living hyggeligtly! To light candles, create cosy places to relax and points of simple beauty around my home and to find more time for family evenings or to cosy up with a good read and a snuggly blanket. Happy Hyggeligt New Year everyone! Happy New Year from Blue Badge Company!