Not Just Four Candles!

No, this is not a post about Ronnie Barker, but rather about a Dane called Meik Wiking [yes, it really is pronounced Mike Viking!] He's the guy who brought out The Little Book Of Hygge in 2016. I came across the word hygge a couple of years earlier via PomPom's blog.

"To learn to hygge is to take practical steps to evoke it - to shelter, cluster, enclose, embrace, comfort and warm ourselves and each other. Cultivating the habits of balance, moderation, care and observance will then comfortably ensure more hygge in our daily lives." 

Meik set up the Happiness Institute in Copenhagen, and has been promoting the idea of hygge [living well/cosiness] and lykke [happiness] in our daily lives ever since.

And this clearly struck a chord with many people world wide - those who were getting wealthy, but not happy. They began to realise that relationships and experiences are more important than possessions, and having a warm, welcoming and cosy home to retreat to at the end of a fraught working day was a big part of that. Naturally a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon and started to 'market' hygge. 

Up went the sales of candles, blankets, fluffy socks, herbal teas...

This week I found Meik's latest book in the library. As nobody turned up for the craft group, I sat and read it from cover-to-cover [272 pages] Meik goes into the rationale behind hygge. It is full of interesting statistics about people's perception of happiness across the world, and ideas which go beyond "light candles on the dining table" I really enjoyed this book and found it very thought-provoking.

He quotes The Hobbit "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, the world would be a merrier place"

Unesco has an "Intangible Cultural Heritage" List - which includes things like Italian pizza culture, Spanish flamenco culture, and Belgian beer culture. Meik is lobbying for Danish Hygge culture to be on that list!

He advocates good lighting - explaining why candles improve the ambience. He points out that the way we light our rooms can actually affect children's behaviour. A super-bright classroom with striplights is not always best  - pendant lamps over each table will help focus each child on their workbooks. And studies show this also decreases the noise level significantly! 

In the food section, he speaks about the benefits of 'seasonal eating' [no flavourless strawberries in December!] but also the wisdom of learning to have food which does preserve well in your pantry, to zhuzh up recipes all year round.  His top-ten list is

preserved lemons; elderflower cordial; dried mushrooms; chutneys; pickled beetroot; cherry sauce; roasted peppers in oil; blackberry jam; figs in rum; kimchi

I'm ok with all those except kimchi [I love figs, but not in rum, so will go for dried ones!]
He suggests keeping a list of freezer contents on your phone so you know what's in there when you are at the supermarket!

Meik talks about the wisdom of buying well and buying once, citing Ben Franklin The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten

Hygge is connected with our awareness of nature - did you know that London is the world's first "National Park City" ? It has an astonishing amount of public green space, and water areas.

In terms of relationship-building, Wiking advocates the "vacant chair" principle. When you sit with friends in a coffee shop/discussion group/wherever always pull up one more chair than there are people in the group. That way a stranger is more easily welcomed. "Come and sit here with us" is much more positive than "pull up a chair" [especially if their hands are full, carrying their coffee/bag/coat] 

He says "The wisest words often come when we are holding something - a tool or utensil - it enables us to deal with silence in the conversation without panicking, if an activity is occurring, words will flow freely" [I agree there- it is certainly one of the principles behind the Men's Shed Movement]

Meik rightly condemns "Hygge-washing" - manufacturers marketing their wares as if owning these things brings instant hygge. He says he was so disappointed when he arrived in the USA and in one of the first interviews, a journalist asked "So what do I need to buy now to experience hygge?"

There is too much information, and too many ideas, in the book to list everythingl here - but if you are interested in the rationale behind the concept, and enjoy piecharts as well as pies, check it out! 

Definitely *****

The clip below is about his other passion, lykke