Hygge

Hygge to the rescue

The soggy darkness of a Seattle winter beckons us to hunker down with hot beverages and cool people. Braving icy streets and spine chilling world news, there’s a yearning to find a place of nurturing comfort. A place to get cozy, to escape from the cold outside world to a private sanctuary, filled with warmth, solace & contentment. We’re not alone in this state of mind. Our friends in the serious north, the ones that reside in (to quote Led Zeppelin) the land of the midnight sun, have braving the winter worked out to a true art form. It even has a name, “hygge” (pronounced “hoo-guh”). Derived from the Old Norse word, “hugga”, meaning “to comfort” and hence our English word “hug”, “hygge” is a Danish term that’s defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.”

The “hygge” way of living seems to be taking a foothold across this pretty blue marble of ours. With the world in such turmoil, we all seem to need a global collective hug. There have been half a dozen books on the “hygge” philosophy published this year and it even has made Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 “word of the year” shortlist. So pull up a blanket, pull down the shades & let hygge warm your soul.

©copyright 2017 Alisa Steck.