Local Life - St Helens - February 2018

4
Whole lotta
hygge
I‘ve never knowingly been ahead of the curve in
terms of latest trends and fashions. I usually pick
up on great TV series about four years after they first
aired, and I’m about three models behind the latest
‘must have’ mobile.
Yet of late, I’ve discovered I have been about 25 years
ahead of almost everyone I know when it comes
to hygge. For the uninitiated, it’s a Danish word
(pronounced‘hooga’) which has no direct equivalent
in English. The closest you can get is ‘cosiness’ or a
general desire to appreciate the simple things in
life. The word first drew my attention in the mid
1990s while visiting Scandanavia for the first time.
As someone with a voracious appetite for learning
languages, I picked up a Danish phrasebook and
started memorising the odd word. The book came
with a section on Danish traditions, way of life etc
and that’s where hygge was mentioned.
It seems the term has now made it over here as it’s
been the subject of various highbrow newspapers
we take of a weekend... it impresses the guests when
we use it for Pass The Parcel. A hardback - entitled
The Little Book of Hygge - has also been published. So
how can you get the hygge lifestyle? It’s quite simple
actually; put your phone down, switch off the TV
and go for a walk. Spend time with friends and
family. Cook meals from scratch. Build a campfire.
Learn to play an instrument. Plan an adventure. You
get the idea. In fact it’s the kind of things this very
publication has espoused for years. Yes, you read
all about hygge here first - and probably didn’t even
realise it!
David Sudworth, Editor