It was 3:00am in the summer. I was with my past foreign exchange student/best friend, Frederikke in her home country of Denmark. We were sitting on the pier of the ocean eating snacks after our night out together. The sun was already rising because the days are very long in the summer in Scandinavia. We were enjoying each other’s company, catching up from our time being apart and watching the sun come up over the water. Now, that’s “hygge.”
Hygge is a Danish word (pronounced hue-guh) that has no direct translation in English. The closest word that may represent hygge is cozy, but it’s much more than that. It is the embracing of a moment that is special, intimate and always comfortable. This moment could be you by yourself cuddled up with a book, or talking and laughing with friends. It doesn’t even have to be something out of the ordinary, it could be a moment completely normal in your life but feels unique in a homey way.
When our Danish exchange student was living with us, her family often sent us “hygge boxes.” These boxes were full of things that made our student feel more at home in another country, as well as introduce us to more of her culture. We all loved getting these boxes because they had some famous Danish licorice or a small Danish flag to place next to someone celebrating their birthday. These boxes allowed us to have our own hygge moments as we embraced that part of Frederikke’s culture.
The Danes are obsessed with hygge, but can we blame them? When you look back on some of your life’s most precious moments, they can most likely they can all be classified as hygge. The Danes connect other words to hygge as well. For example, everyone has a pair of hyggebukser which are the pair of pants that you want to jump into the moment you walk in the door after a long day, but you would never be caught wearing them in public! Another one of my favorites is sondagshygge or Sunday’s hygge, where you take the day to relax before the week begins on Monday.
Practicing the art of hygge is something we should all start subscribing to. It makes us take the time to acknowledge the precious moments that we experience in our everyday lives. It gives us an excuse to step back and embrace the beauty that oftentimes goes unnoticed.
The best way to enjoy hygge is different for everyone. For you this could mean drinking a warm cup of coffee and doing a crossword puzzle on a Saturday morning wrapped up in a fluffy blanket. Or it could be attending a family dinner, taking extra time to eat and speak with the people closest to you. The easiest way to miss a hygge moment is to be glued to your phone or other technology. Our devices often hinder the intimate moments we can have with one another and distract us from the beauty that is our everyday lives. So, put your phone down and start searching for hygge in your life.
It is no wonder why Americans are now opening up to the idea of hygge in our busy lives. It is important to stop and cherish the comforting moments before they are gone. As the holidays are coming up, keep hygge in mind as many of us get to take this special season being cozy with our loved ones!
All photos courtesy of the author.