If there has ever been a time to embrace the Scandinavian concept of "hygge," now is certainly it.
Hygge, pronounced hue-gah, is a Danish word that generally means cozy, intimate, or special, and it is used to identify small moments of comfort and contentment in the everyday. It can't be identified as a thing or a place, but rather a mood or a feeling that can exist anywhere at anytime under the conditions that are right for you.
Incorporating hygge into your day can be as simple as lighting a special candle when you settle down with a book, but in our daily life, it can be hard to stay aware of those simple pleasures that make our mundane every-day life just a little bit special.
But during the holidays, we settle into yearly traditions that infuse hygge into our routines. Think of the feeling you get when you turn your Christmas tree lights on at the end of a workday, or the special ritual of choosing a cookie from a gifted box of homemade treats. You might settle in with a cup of hot chocolate with your kids, or turn off the television and play your favorite holiday music while cooking dinner. We slow down and enjoy those moments in a way we don't the rest of the year, and that is hygge.
This year, we're going to try and find the hygge in our holiday rituals and hope that the spirit carries us into the new year for a brighter outlook at a challenging time.
And we're going to start with some egg nog, classic Christmas tunes, and these Swedish-style Cardamom-Cinnamon Buns from the folks who do it best.