It’s so American, my friend says, to be excited about this new-to-us lifestyle trend—and to need a book about it. And so there’s hygge (HOO-gah), a way of inherently enjoying life—from dark winters to bright interiors—in Scandinavia.
When my friend vacationed in Denmark and Sweden last summer, she asked her cousins about hygge. By instinctually inhabiting the tenets of hygge, they didn’t even realize it was something to be learned. But in the United States, where a book about rigorously throwing out stuff (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo) can become a national obsession, it only makes sense we’d want to adopt the nature-loving, clean line-living, sweet treat-valuing, community-minded ways of the Nordic culture.
Hygge, as described by Signe Johansen in How to Hygge, is not so much a movement as an embrace of intimacy and coziness. It’s a way to feel alive (with an emphasis on outdoor activities), feel productive (learn how to knit, chop wood, cook) and feel neighborly (dugnad is a communal spring cleaning).
The book, published last month, is a 101-level class in how to be Nordic. The lessons and rules can seem obvious, like staying active and eating well—there’s a section on fika, a version of a coffee break but with really delicious baked goods and lots of ways to eat smoked fish on open-faced sandwiches—and can serve as reminders that life is about finding joy, even if it’s just lighting a candle during those long, cold, dim days of winter.
