Hygge special
As the days start to shorten and comfort is on the menu, sink into hygge this autumn with our help. For our Hygge Special for our Vol 15 Autumn issue, we chat to Scandinavian-based writer Laura Hall on what hygge means to her…
You’ll know by now that hygge is no longer just a Danish word. It’s been in the Oxford English Dictionary since 2017, defined as something that ‘inspires feelings of contentment or wellbeing from experiencing cosiness, comfort, social harmony, etc.’ It sounds about right to me: where I live in Denmark, locals translate the word as ‘cosy’ but I always feel it misses some of its richer dimensions – it’s definitely about comfort, contentment and wellbeing too,” says Laura.
“Hygge is a dominant part of everyday culture in this region, and it’s a word and concept I hear daily, often multiple times a day. It’s one of those great universal concepts: a state that everyone seeks and can achieve. It’s the feeling of reading an absorbing book, of brewing the perfect cup of tea, of having a great chat with a friend. It’s a state of being that you don’t have to pay for, an experience we can all have at any time, a sense of connection, not being rushed, and of feeling that all is right with the world. It might be hard to define with a single word in English, but thankfully, it’s easy to reach,” shares Laura.
