Before you begin you must first get the pronunciation of this word correct, for you will go on to read it an obscene number of times throughout this article; hygge or hyoogah not hygee.
hygge/ˈhʊɡ ga//ˈh(j)uːɡ:gə/
In his hit book The Little Book of Hygge: the Danish way to live well, Meik Wiking describes Hygge as a Danish word for “wellbeing”, “a form of everyday togetherness”, “a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow”. In 2016, the Oxford Dictionary released its word of the year and corresponding shortlist. To name but a few, the list included: adulting, Brexiteer, coulrophobia (an irrational fear of clowns) and hygge.
“Hygge is a very comfortable feeling. For me it’s something which happens everyday, when I come home and sit in front of a couple of candle sticks with my wife”
Per Kolind (Art Dealer) The word Hygge was so popular that it almost made word of the year. So what is it all about? Some would say comfort, safety, nowness, togetherness and coziness. But that is what makes the word so great, for it really cannot be summed up in one English word the way it can in Danish, for that is where the word originates, resonates and emulates in the people and culture of the beautiful northern European country.
Some have argued that the tumultuous world events of 2016 caused the beaten down masses of the United States and the UK to retreat and look elsewhere for lifestyle examples from what has been known for 3 years in a row now as “the happiest country in the world”, according to the United Nations annual happiness report.
If the world rates your country as the happiest, there would inevitably follow an analysis of why. In her talk entitled “Planting Seeds of Happiness in Singapore”, Malene Ryhahl spoke of three fundamental Danish values that she believes help make up the Danish’s “good base of well-being”; trust (which she says is amongst 80 percent of Danes), the freedom to be yourself and purpose.
These are values that will take generations to properly instill into other cultures and while that may be true, people need something to look towards now, something that will work instantly; and their answer is the Danish way of hygge living.
In 2016, at least nine books about how to hygge were published. Type hygge into Instagram and there are over 1.7m posts on how to hygge with candles, knitwear, wine, chocolate and friends. Type it into Pinterest and be greeted with pages upon endless pages of how to hygge guides for the consciously cozy.
“Me and my girlfriend sitting in bed, watching the next episode of CSI, with a cup of coffee and chocolate, I’d say that’s hygge” Nikolaj Christensen (Student) The UK comes preprogrammed to hygge and hygge well; the Chinese perhaps not so much. In fact we may go so far as to say that hyggeling, to the Chinese, is so much of a foreign concept that consumer marketing may well be the only way to bring it into the mainstream.
Spend anytime in China during the long, dark, bitter winter months and you will find yourself in turn championing for a hygge revolution. The country goes dark during winter for saving electricity is a must; candles? Only for the poor. Heating is reserved for those who wish to get a cold and down jackets and coats are to be worn inside, at work and home… at all times.
As expats hailing from hyggying backgrounds of comfort and coziness, it is quite the shock to experience a first Chinese winter. “Maybe it’s because in the recent past they [the Chinese] didn’t have any money for the luxury of hygge?” commented Jillian Walker, a Shanghai expat. “Maybe it will take a few generations for the concept of hygge to fully be embraced here.”
If it were simply a case of expats pushing their agenda onto the Chinese, one would argue that it’s wrong. However, it seems the idea of naming and recognising a consciously cozy way of living as a well-being choice, is in part sweeping the Western world as a result of dissatisfaction, spikes in depression and the notion that money does not buy happiness.
Wang Lin from Jing Daily, writes, “The healing concept of hygge may well speak to Chinese consumers living in an age of dilemma, where on the one hand, they are excited to explore the infinite possibilities of an increasingly modern China, while on the other hand, they face rising competition and pressure in China’s mega cities. Many Chinese have thus begun searching for ways to embrace wellness. Hygge offers a solution as anyone can practice the concept, by filling everyday life with little positive experiences”.
“Chinese people don’t know how to enjoy their lives. They only know how to live how their parents want them to live. They have very busy lives, but no quality.” Susan Su (Nanjing businesswoman)
I’m spoking too fast. Like anything that trends in this modern world, it sooner or later makes its way to China. That is why the Chinese version of Meik Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge was printed in May this year. “You have to fill your soul with something, otherwise you will feel empty inside,” says Li Jingyuan, deputy editor-in-chief of Citic Publishing Group. “So that’s why we have published the Chinese version of Danish Secrets to Happy Living. Chinese people can also get the secret of hygge”, Li added. “Despite the word being listed among the top 10 of 2016, there is still not an English or Chinese counterpart that can express the meaning accurately”, said Yang Yang, writing for the China Daily.
Inside Scandinavian Business writer, Yajie Ma comments, “The largest group of Asian tourists in Denmark are travellers from China, who are drawn by the exotic hygge culture… The new wave of labour immigrants are attracted by the hygge atmosphere and the transparent working environment”.
It is said that the word is not meant to be simply translated, it is to be felt. So if you are in Nanjing this winter and wondering to yourself how you’re going to hygge-up your Chinese flat or office, here is a Pinterest post to show you how; Zero to HYGGE in 5 simple steps! If indeed you do hygge in your flat or at the office or school here in Nanjing, pay it forward and teach it to your Chinese colleagues and hopefully the Danish concept of “consciously cozy”, which helps make them the happiest country in the world, will filter through, defrosting frozen souls and showing purpose.
- Slow Down
- Enjoy The Space Around You
- Create a Hygge ambience. Invest in candles, sweets, wine, blankets, knits and heating.
- Take Up a New Hobby or Practice an Old One
- Be around the people you love – Hygge with Friends
