If you live in Denmark, you can’t avoid dealing with the “hygge”. It’s one of the first things that you hear about. Whole grain bread, bicycles. rain, candles and hygge.
This damn word is difficult to pronounce too. The “h” is just a little more than a whisper. The “y” is not an “i” – as we’re used to consider it, in Italy. It is a kind of “u”, but not a real “u”. It’s like the “i” and the “u” had made love, and an ugly little kid was born.
To make matters worse, there’s not even an easy translation. There is no word, in Italian – as well as in English – that can be used in its place.
If you say “I’ve met my friends, we’ve had a meal together, it was cozy” it’s not ok. It doesn’t express the same idea that you can find in the sentence “I’ve met my friends, we’ve had a meal together, it was hyggeligt”.
Meik Wiking, director of the Copenhagen Happiness Research Institute, explains:
The “hygge” is connected to an atmosphere and an experience, more than to objects. It’s to be together with the people we love. It’s the feeling of being home, to be safe, to be protected by the world outside, and to be able to let your guard down. Maybe with a little chat about meaningless issues, enjoying a nice company, or drinking a cup of tea.
Hygge is something impalpable, like a perfume: you can sense if it’s here, but you can’t fully describe it.
Can the picture above describe my idea of hygge (an idea that’s obviously wrong, because only those who were born and raised in Denmark have the full and right idea of hygge)?
Maybe, I can try to take you to the situation I was in, when I took the picture.
That’s the window of the room where I spend most of my time. It’s my little, wonderful chaos, where every item in disorder tells me about home. The room was pleasantly warm, and I was wearing a very comfortable outfit. I was drinking a tea. Outside, the afternoon sun was playing with the colors of the autumn leaves, yellow, red and ochre, of the ailanthus that grows in the parking area here in front of the house. Inside, an agreeable music in the background.
Yes. That was a “hyggeligt” moment for me.
Probably, a Danish would disagree with me, because “there’s no hygge without a burning candle!”
