How I See It...

Hello,

After our much deserved autumn gift of sunny days, someone up there has started to turn the gas down (obviously saving money) and we on earth are reaching for extra layers and some warmth and comfort. I might rail against this change in temperature true British moaning style, but my Danish friends (I have many) have “got this”. They positively look forward to it, embrace it and even give it a word – Hygge, which roughly translated means wellbeing.

THAT FEELING OF WARMTH

Five years ago, due to life in general and the disruption of divorce in my 50’s I was lost. It’s the only word I can come up with because I’d wake up every morning thinking, when am I going to go home? Among a whole list of things I’d lost one was my sense of belonging. This is important because it translates to home, warmth, comfort, stability, self-care… my wellbeing. Try as I might, I couldn’t pull all these ends together which is why I use the word “lost”. It’s a simple little word, but I think very appropriate. You might relate to it now, or at other times in your life when you’ve felt the same.

Through this time I tried all the text book methods, including buying books with titles that promised to fix my problems, from Paul McKenna’s How To Mend A Broken Heart to The Dalai Lama’s Art Of Happiness Many have been passed on over the years but there is one – Meik Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge: The DanishWayToLiveWell – which has stayed with me. I’ve even bought it for friends who were also in need of a little Hygge. Originally a Norwegian word, Hygge has many spellings and interpretations but, in the words of the great philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh, “You don’t spell it, you feel it.”

HOW TO CREATE HYGGE?

I know in this magazine there are always lots of Hygge style ideas to inspire you to think the Hygge way but here’s my penneth worth. If you can put love, comfort and warmth into you, your home, your friends and family, then watch the magic happen.

It’s a little like the ripple effect – you drop a stone into a pond and the ripples spread out, hit a bank, and then come right back to you.

Buy the book, do your research (Pinterest is amazing!) and remember that the Danes aren’t one of the happiest nations on the world for nothing. Hygge stopped me feeling lost and now I know “home” is me and it’s everywhere I am. Love, Anthea X