Hygge

What do Fidel Castro, David Hamilton and Florence Henderson have in common? They all died today. Interestingly, Radio 4 (and I expect every other news service in the world) didn’t stop reporting the Castro death. They dissected his life (and death) from every conceivable angle, put him back together then started once more.

Photographer, David Hamilton received a little bit of coverage. Apart from his eye for photographic composition, he’s most remembered (according to the news, anyway) for taking pictures of naked teenagers for fashion magazines. His death was a suspected suicide which I’m sure will make fodder for society’s moral guardians.

Florence, on the other hand, received no coverage on Radio 4. I guess she just wasn’t important enough. The fact that she entertained a worldwide generation of Brady fans is just not worthy of mention.

So, let’s just weigh these things up. A communist leader who has been accused of crimes against his own people, a man who has basically held Cuba in a dictatorship for a very long time, a period during which Cubans were not free to come and go. A photographer who was possibly a debaucher of young girls who pandered to the fashion world’s dictate to push the boundaries of taste towards the the sewer, leaving young victims on the sides of the road. And a woman who made the world smile, laugh and generally be happy with the antics of her oddly entertaining TV family.

What does that say about what we think of as important? It’s not very hygge.

In our house, we’ve been trying to achieve hygge, a Danish concept that we don’t have a single word for. Some people opt for ‘cosiness’ but it’s so much more than that. It’s the feeling when you’re comfortably sitting, enjoying a meal, the room lit by candles, your other half smiling across the dining table, your puppies asleep on cushions on the floor while gentle music plays.

It’s about the simple, beautiful things in life. Here’s a definition from the Hygge House website:

Hyyge is a Danish word that is a feeling or mood that comes taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary, every day things more meaningful, beautiful or special. Whether it’s making coffee a verb by creating a ritual of making it then lingering over a cup to a cosy evening in with friends to the simple act of lighting a candle with every meal. Hygge is being aware of a good moment whether it’s simple or special.

For me, it’s what makes life worth living. Love of the simple, the non-manufactured, bliss, warmth and, simple cosy love.

Tonight, after dinner, we set up the table and posed for the cover photograph for our calendar for 2017. We wanted it to show hygge. Apart from Emma deciding to keep looking away, I think the photo we ultimately used almost does it. However, here’s a couple of the rejects…

Freya!

FREYA!!!

Little Freya doesn’t actually get the hygge concept…