If you haven't heard of the Hygge craze yet, and that would be ASTONISHING as it seems to have taken over the entire 'first world' in the last few months, then let me fill you in. Hygge, pronounced 'hoo-gah', is a Danish philosophy and lifestyle - incidentally, it is a word which cannot be translated into English, which perhaps says something about our real need for it? Anyway, Hygge is all about the art of living well, living comfortably, finding inner peace and tranquillity within your surroundings. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it?
Well, I certainly thought so too. Having now read a book on Hygge, I think I am pretty well-versed in the laws of this lifestyle, and everything about it sounds absolutely wonderful; a house filled with cosy blankets, beautiful lamps and candlelight, holidays in wooden cabins with friends, gorgeously elegant clothes, freshly baked bread, riding bikes through the sunny countryside... My life suddenly feels incredibly un-Hygge-ish and I've decided to write a blog post about my search for it, for this magical state of being which will ultimately give my life a new-found meaning.
Firstly, I must get used to low light, lamps and candles - having the main over-head lights on at home is totally anti-Hygge and ruins the beautiful ambiance of dimmer lights. The only problem is that I have terrible eyesight and my entire work consists of reading music, books or looking at my computer, all of which are impossible for me without the main lights on. Hmm, well, I suppose it is still winter time - maybe I will let this one go for now and revisit it when the days are brighter and lighter for longer in the summer.
OK, I must now go through my wardrobe and get rid of all the sub-quality, and therefore un-Hygge, clothes. I'm only going to keep beautiful knitwear, expensive fabrics, perfectly tailored trousers... After staring in despair at the contents of my wardrobe for a while, I've realised that doing this would leave me with virtually nothing! OK - I've decided that my resolution from now on will be to save my money and ONLY buy the BEST quality clothes from independent designers who use only organic materials. It could mean that I will only get to buy one new item every ten years, but hey, I'm searching for Hygge and Hygge is worth it.
From reading my book on Hygge, it seems absolutely fundamental and of utmost importance to Hygge-matise ones house if one is really serious about living in Hygge. My Hygge house should have unique hand-crafted furniture, a perfect place for each of my things and, of course, no clutter or mess. Looking around, I see the cupboard in the hall with the loose shelf, the wardrobe who's doors are propping it up, the shelves that are dangerously leaning to the left... Well, there is nothing I can do about any of those except hope that everything stays UP until I move to my next place, when I will get ALL NEW and perfect furniture. But, I have to say, I think my house is doing OK on the Hygge front. Most things have their place, we've got some very nice rugs (must be Hygge), a soft fleece blanket on the sofa (very Hygge), lots of pictures on the walls - yes, I'm pretty convinced that apart from the furniture and the stack of empty wine bottles, I've managed to find Hygge at home.
I know that to really live a life of Hygge, though, it's not just about how you make your home - it's about where you go, the places you visit and who you see them with. Hygge is all about weekends away in the snowy mountains, spas or at the beach with friends. This should be easy for me - I love to travel. Except that I can usually only afford to stay in cheap hostels or hotels when I go away, and I've always got to stay somewhere that will be able to facilitate me with a space to do my violin practice; those scales aren't going to practise themselves, although they aren't the most Hygge noise... Then there's the issue of convincing my friends, who all lead their own busy lives, to fix dates for holidays where the aim is to sit quietly in each others company, no Twitter, no emails, no YouTube - this could be near impossible. Well, I'll suggest it at some point anyway and see what happens.
My conclusion? I hope that you have all gathered that this post was intentionally ironic! I gave my sense of humour a little freedom to come out here and I hope that it didn't offend anyone. The truth is that Hygge really is a philosophy that seems to be very heartwarming and lovely, civilised and something we can strive to look for in everyday life. But, for me, that is exactly where the problem with Hygge lies - it is so far away from daily struggles, it's not REAL life - it's like an edited version of life you might see on Pinterest or Instagram, with only the bits that look perfect on the surface (and that are very expensive to create)! I get why the Hygge trend has become so fashionable and why everyone is talking about it - I'm sure we all want beautiful homes and clothes and expensive holidays, but, for most of us, that's just not realistic. I feel that instead of trying to achieve this 'fake', Instagram-worthy lifestyle, we should concentrate instead on making the absolute best of what IS real, what we really do have in our lives, because we are so very lucky to have what we have already.
Today, I am throwing this bloody book on Hygge away, I hope all of you will do the same, and instead I'm going to focus on the things that are truly meaningful and important.
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