Hygge is a Danish word that roughly translates as "cozy".
Regular readers may remember our article last year, which defined hygge more broadly as:
"a feeling of calm togetherness and the enjoyment of simple pleasures, perhaps illuminated by the gentle flicker of candlelight"
A growing global phenomena, hygge is gaining attention even faster than we thought just a couple of months ago.
An example is the very long New York Times article "Move Over, Marie Kondo: Make Room for the Hygge Hordes". It says the Danes consider hygge:
"...a national manifesto, nay, an obsession expressed in the constant pursuit of homespun pleasures involving candlelight, fires, fuzzy knitted socks, porridge, coffee, cake and other people."
But we knew hygge had really made it to America when one of our favorite radio shows, WBUR's OnPoint Radio, had an episode on it.
The show features the author of the New York Times article as well as the author of The Little Book of Hygge, Meik Wiking (pronounced "Mike Viking" and no, we are not making this up).
Despite having a name that makes him sound like a Danish porn star, he's not.
Instead, he's the founder and CEO of the Danish Happiness Research Institute.
On the show Weking defined hygge as "conscious coziness", which is by far the best short description we've heard.
The show is simply great.
We highly recommend you put on your knitted socks, light some candles, snuggle up in front of fire and listen to the show while sipping hot chocolate - preferably in a snow storm.
And expect to hear a lot about hygge and all the products and services that will help you have a hyggely experience in the near future.
But be careful when using the adjective huggely (pronounced "hoog-ly"). It's really easy to say "ug-ly" instead; as in "your house is so ug-ly".
BTW, if you aren't listening to OnPoint Radio you should be. It has a very liberal bent, but even conservatives will find the shows interesting.
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