My little breaks at the office [see my article on this subject] are very hyggelig for one essential reason: they make my five senses play.
The five senses of hygge
My little breaks at the office are veryhyggelig for one main reason: they bring my five senses into play. We live in a society where sight is paramount. We spend hours in front of screens, we are saturated with images, the news is no longer satisfied with static images, videos must be ultra cadenced, alternating, cut, breaking news format. Our sight is extremely solicited, to the detriment of the other senses to which we no longer give time. Hygge is also about giving time back to the other senses to rediscover certain pleasures.
For starters, there is no hygge without gourmet food. Americans call it"comfort food" - that's the idea. I'm not talking about a cereal cake spread with cottage cheese. You need butter, sugar, cream, wine sauce: one bite is enough, you don't need to load your arteries, but it's about letting your guard down and rediscovering a carnal relationship with food.
One of my favorite places in Stockholm, the old tea room Vete-Katten
One of my favorite places in Stockholm, the old tea room Vete-Katten
Similarly, sound and smell are extremely important. They both have an instinctive reassurance capacity. The smell of the mother is very powerful for an infant. This power of smell never leaves us, even in adulthood, and we each have our "doudou" smells: for some, the dust of their old country house, for others the smell of the undergrowth after the rain. Mine are the smell of wood - I find myself making a detour to the wood department when I pass a DIY store in town - and the smell of cinnamon, omnipresent in Swedish and New York streets in winter, and which really rings the bell at the end of the year.
So are the sounds that make you feel safe and soothed. For me, it's the sound of rain on the pavement that reminds me of walking around the old Haga district of Gothenburg on rainy days (350 days a year). It is the voice of Nathalie Merchant that we used to listen to with my parents at home on Sunday afternoons.
Give it time
Another essential element of my little breaks: the value I give to time. The carpe diem that I mentioned above already sums up the idea, but it is not only about enjoying the present moment. It's about the time behind the objects that surround us.
The time I spent making my bench, embroidering my pillow makes them much more valuable to me. The time spent handling my tea boxes, opening them one after the other, smelling, dosing the tea into the diffuser, will make my cup of tea more valuable when it is ready than if I had simply taken a tea bag out of its cardboard box. I will enjoy drinking it more. I have a mug that was given to me by my mom, on which she painted a birch forest, inspired by a design I love. The mug is painted by her hand, has her signature on the back and is infinitely more valuable to me than a "Tea Time" mug from a mega-brand.
Handcrafted objects bear the traces of their time of manufacture, are impregnated with the hand of the man or woman who fashioned them - and in this respect are carriers of warmth.
My collection of Dala horses, in my workshop.
These traditional Swedish horses are only made in a factory in the village of Nusnäs in the mountainous region of Dalarna (Darlarna in Swedish "the Dala [mountains]").
As I write this article, I realize how dense the subject is and I think it's good to take a break. I've talked a lot about "how to practice hygge"; I'll soon talk about "why to practice hygge". While some obvious reasons already stand out, I will be thinking beyond the physical and temporary well-being. I will talk about happiness with a capital B and its relation to hygge, the benefits of hygge in my daily life, its relation to meditation and other philosophies.
Until then, to your candles and your homemade cakes!
A beautiful and sweet day to you all,
Léa Petitjean
Left: Gingerbread by renowned Swedish chef Linda Lomelino
Right: Hyggekrog by German blogger Solebich (a hyggekrog is a cozy little corner, usually near a window, for"hyggelig" activities like reading, knitting, writing)
