In preparation for living in the Hygge Hale, I thought I should know a bit more about this “hygge” concept. So, I’ve been reading up. Quite a hyggelig experience itself, this reading of hygge. Especially when I get a fire going in our fireplace as the perfect hygge reading backdrop. Letting the book drop to my knees for a moment of contemplation, I watch the flickering flames and think wonderingly about there being an entire country, an entire region really, of people who value what I’m feeling right now as much as I do.
I’ve never put much stock in needing to know the formal name of things, but as I read of a people in a place who care so strongly about the type of experience I crave that they’ve created a word for it, I realize the power of designation. With no word in my native tongue for this experience I love, it is easy to feel silly, easy to let others write off what I’m feeling as insignficant and a waste of time. But once it is cared for enough to be named, there is validation. Pulled a bit more into truth of existence. And, once that thing becomes a driving force behind a culture of an entire people, the significance can no longer be discredited. Perhaps somewhere in the veins of my ancenstry, a bit of Danish, or at least Scandinavian, blood surges. I’ve been working, life-long, to create hygge in my moments. It is what I desire most. I feel this tiny house moving me closer to that ideal. I think we will have christened our house aptly.
Hi Tracy and Eli! I did not know the word Hygge Hale but after reading your blog today and looking the word up, I am happy to admit that I have been striving for Hygge all my life. I crave the setting for cozy so that I can feel cozy too. but I am thinking as I grow older, that Hygge is more a state of mind than a decorating concept, as I sometimes can’t relax with a hood mystery and cup of coffee in my cozy love seat by the wood stove as long as they lamp shade is crooked or there is a trail of dried mud on the dark wood floor…..I guess I am an OCD Hyyge personality. I love what you guys are doing. I wish I could do it too.
Hey Linda! I talk about how we decided to name our tiny house “Hygge Hale” here. Glad to hear of another fellow hygge lover! As I read these books on hygge, I definitely think Danes would agree that hygge is a state of mind – or perhaps more accurately, a state of being. If you’re feeling kinship with the hygge concept, I’d definitely recommend reading some of the books I have pictured in my post. The Little Book of Hygge is a good one, and Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness has some great hyggelig visuals!