Whether you have spent time on the Internet, watched television or read magazines and newspapers, you must have encountered the word “hygge.” Pronounced “hoo-gah,” the Danish art of feeling good has, particularly since 2016, been the subject of many books and articles.
The growing interest in this universal experience of relating to a place as well as to one another and feeling safe and comforted comes at a time of global instability, a time when hyper-connectivity has turned us into self-centered beings.
The buzz created around hygge also coincides with the UN World Happiness Report (WHR), which announced that Denmark, once again, ranked as the “happiest country in the world.” Yet Denmark is a country with high taxes and long dreary winters ‘so what is the secret behind the Danes’ happiness? Can we find it in hygge? Louisa Thomson Brits “hopes that, in reading this book, you will discover the hygge that already exists in your life and become attuned to its presence.”
The word “hygge” was in fact borrowed from the Norwegians. The concept is linked to the birth of modern Denmark, which was created after the break-up of the Danish empire that extended from Greenland to Iceland, encompassing Norway, southern Sweden, northern Germany and present-day Denmark and the Baltic Islands. The loss of a large territory inspired Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig to envision his project of 'folkeoplysning'. He believed that national identity was based on a sense of belonging and that Denmark should abandon invasive policies, and seek the well-being and education of all its citizens. The concept of hygge was born between the end of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th when the growing middle classes focused their interest on the comforts of home, domestic life and leisure. Hygge can be described in brief as a harmonious atmosphere, a feeling of warmth and a mood of contentment.
The essence of hygge is the sense and feeling of connection and belonging. Life in Denmark revolves around the community. Danes learn from an early age the importance of connection to their home and their streets. Hygge reflects the way we live in the smallest details. Habits — like the first coffee we drink in the morning, the special perfume we always wear — give us a sense of balance, rootedness and a feeling of well-being.
To hygge is to gather with friends or family members to celebrate the fleeting time or, in other words, to enjoy the moment. In Denmark, people generally gather around a table, and everyone has his own circle of friends. Hygge is about human connection and the family is the first gathering. Family is deeply ingrained in Danish culture. Hygge is a way of showing the members of our family that we care and that we have time to spend with them. We are connected to the whole world; yet many of us are too involved with our WhatsApp, Instagram, email and Facebook to see that our neighbors need some help. To hygge is about making the effort to give one’s time to people and create an atmosphere of tolerance and peace. And whatever the group, everyone has an express duty to include each and every member in a strong sense of relatedness and harmony. It is not accepted for anyone to galvanize the conversation for a long time. If a member of a group displays an inflated ego and takes himself too seriously, he is likely to be teased and warned.
“Within most Danes is a kernel of internalized sanction that keeps their behavior from sliding into self-indulgence or pomposity…There are diverse and subtle ways in which social order is maintained. The Danes are connoisseurs of guilt and commonly use it combined with gentle humor as a non-aggressive deterrent to uphold the quality of human relationships,” wrote Brits.
Hygge is a multi-layered concept where the sense of belonging vies with the experience of shelter and the feelings of comfort, well-being and simplicity. Shelter conveys our basic sense of security. Everyone yearns for a safe home.
Most buildings in Denmark are low rise and streets are wide enough to cross with ease. Large spaces are not seen as inviting. Danish homes are not only practical but they also take into consideration the changing seasons. They welcome the light but they also like to brighten their houses with fireplaces. Many Danes like to spend a weekend or a short vacation in a summerhouse beside the sea or in a cabin on the shore of a lake. The concept of hygge is also strongly linked to comfort, coziness and a relaxed frame of mind. The design of our homes and offices has focused lately more on how they look rather than how they feel. Hygge stresses the importance of handcrafted goods, understated comfort, warmth, natural materials and the use of light.
Danes relate warmth to goodness. Common symbols of hygge such as fireplaces, candlelight, newly baked buns and hot chocolate are connected with the feeling of warmth. Many Danes do not have a fireplace but they make up for it by burning candles. Throughout Scandinavia, candles are lit and placed on windowsills during winter months. And candles on a table convey the idea that we are sitting together.
Danes also give importance to the use of natural materials. The most popular building material is wood combined with stone, brick, copper and concrete. Wooden floors are covered with sisal matting or woolen carpets which exude a feeling of warmth. Danes have a preference for lightweight and mobile furniture that can be easily moved around to welcome unexpected guests. Everyday objects are considered important, and they must be practical and well-made. Special care is given to the design of chairs, which should be as comfortable as possible. Classic Danish coffee tables are elliptical and dining tables are round which draws people together and creates a congenial atmosphere. Danes value good design characterized by beauty, utility, simplicity and quality. Scent is most strongly linked to our emotions. In Denmark, a home is inviting when it smells clean and natural. Hygge is found in the natural smell of flowers, of freshly brewed coffee or newly baked cake.
In fact, sharing a meal is at the heart of hygge. Food in Denmark has always been linked to tradition and time spent in the company of family and friends. Smorrebrod, a typical informal lunch, is prepared in advance so that everyone can enjoy the meal at the same time. New Scandinavian cuisine places emphasis on ingredients that are local and typical of a region’s climate, soil, and water. It has also revived old techniques such as smoking, salting and marinating, and promotes production that is in harmony with the natural resources in fields, the sea, and in the wild.
After all has been said, hygge distinguishes itself by the simplicity it entails. Simplicity is a way of being. Danes enjoy a simple life rather than the visible consumption of branded goods. The concept of hygge is lost if we indulge in luxury goods. Hygge is not a question of qualifications or appearance, but it is about who we are and what we bring to the moment.
In Denmark, hygge is a feeling that “flourishes in any available space in life.” Louisa Thomsen Britts gives us an in-depth look into the art of hygge. It is all about enjoying every instant of every day and connecting with a place and with one another. “Hygge rekindles our awareness of the importance and pleasure of mutuality and celebrates our interconnectedness. It keeps us engaged with the lifelong task of living in intimate and loving relation to the world around us.”
Book Review: ‘The Book of Hygge’ provides insight into Danes’ unbridled happiness
Book Review: ‘The Book of Hygge’ provides insight into Danes’ unbridled happiness
‘Don’t hit him too hard!’: Zelensky tells Usyk not to endanger British arms deal
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky jokes for Oleksandr Usyk to be gentle with British rival Tyson Fury to not harm UK weapon supplies
PARIS: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with boxing star Oleksandr Usyk to be gentle with British rival Tyson Fury in their world heavyweight clash in case a battering delivers a knockout blow to a crucial arms deal.
Usyk defeated Fury in May to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and the two men meet again in Riyadh on Saturday.
“All Ukrainians are on your side. Of course, Britain is helping Ukraine in a fight against Russia,” Zelensky told Usyk on Friday in a video on Zelensky’s Telegram account.
“We respect our partners. That’s why when you beat Fury, don’t hit him too hard, because we don’t want them to ban Storm Shadow.”
British media reported last month that Ukraine had fired Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time after London gave Kyiv the green light for such strikes.
The UK government refused to confirm or deny the reports.
Britain’s Stonehenge is yet again a source of fascination ahead of the winter solstice
LONDON: It’s that time of year when crowds of pagans, druids, hippies and tourists head to Stonehenge in Britain to celebrate the winter solstice, with the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thousands are expected on Saturday at the megalithic circle on a plain in southern England as the first rays of sun break through the giant stones that make up one of world’s most famous prehistoric monuments.
Rain has been forecast but there is no doubt it won’t be able to drown out the drumming, chanting and cheering.
Beyond the fascination of the ritual, the eternal question may still linger in the back of the minds of many visitors: What was the real meaning and purpose of Stonehenge?
The site has been the subject of vigorous debate, with some theories seemingly more outlandish, if not alien, than others.
This year, those gathering will have something new to discuss.
In a paper published in the journal Archaeology International, researchers from University College London and Aberystwyth University say that the site on Salisbury Plain, about 128 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of London, may have had some unifying purpose in ancient times.
They base that on a recent discovery that one of Stonehenge’s stones — the unique stone lying flat at the center of the monument, dubbed the “altar stone” — originated in Scotland, hundreds of miles north of the site.
What was surprising was that it came from so far away. It was long known that the other stones come from all over Britain — including the so-called bluestones, the smaller stones at the site that came from Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 240 kilometers (150 miles) away.
That varied geology is what makes Stonehenge unique among over 900 stone circles in Britain.
“The fact that all of its stones originated from distant regions ... suggests that the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose,” said lead author Professor Mike Parker Pearson from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology.
It may have served as a “monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos,” Parker Pearson said.
Whatever its original purpose, Stonehenge today retains an important place in Britain’s culture and history and remains one of the country’s biggest tourist draws — despite the seemingly permanent traffic jams on the nearby A303 highway, a popular route for motorists traveling to and from the southwest of England.
Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages, starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period, about 2,500 B.C.
English Heritage, a charity that manages hundreds of historic sites, including Stonehenge, has noted several explanations — from the circle being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events.
So as far as symbolism and unification go — maybe Stonehenge really was a Mount Rushmore of its day?
Starbucks workers’ union to strike in LA, Chicago, Seattle before Christmas
The workers’ union representing more than 10,000 Starbucks baristas said its members will strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle on Friday morning during the busy holiday season.
Workers United, representing employees at 525 Starbucks stores across the United States, said that walkouts are expected to escalate daily, potentially reaching hundreds of stores nationwide by Christmas Eve, unless Starbucks and the union finalize a collective bargaining agreement.
The union and Starbucks created a “framework” in February to guide organizing and collective bargaining. Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on the framework, that could also help resolve numerous pending legal disputes.
“Since the February commitment, the company repeatedly pledged publicly that it intended to reach contracts by the end of the year, but it has yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal,” the union said in a statement late on Thursday.
Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The coffee chain is undergoing a turnaround under its newly appointed top boss Brian Niccol, who aims to restore “coffee house culture” by overhauling cafes, adding more comfortable seating, reducing customer wait-time to less than four minutes, and simplifying its menu.
Invasive ‘murder hornets’ are wiped out in the US, officials say
- There had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021
- Northern giant hornets pose significant threats to pollinators and native insects
SEATTLE: The world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honeybee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the US, five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
The Washington and US Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021.
The news represented an enormous success that included residents agreeing to place traps on their properties and reporting sightings, as well as researchers capturing a live hornet, attaching a tiny radio tracking tag to it with dental floss, and following it through a forest to a nest in an alder tree. Scientists destroyed the nest just as a number of queens were just beginning to emerge, officials said.
“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference.
The hornets, which can be 5 centimeters long and were formerly called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675. In the US, around 72 people a year die from bee and hornet stings each year, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.
The hornets were first detected in North America in British Columbia, Canada, in August 2019 and confirmed in Washington state in December 2019, when a Whatcom County resident reported a specimen. A beekeeper also reported hives being attacked and turned over specimens in the summer of 2020. The hornets could have traveled to North America in plant pots or shipping containers, experts said.
DNA evidence suggested the populations found in British Columbia and Washington were not related and appeared to originate from different countries. There also have been no confirmed reports in British Columbia since 2021, and the nonprofit Invasive Species Center in Canada has said the hornet is also considered eradicated there.
Northern giant hornets pose significant threats to pollinators and native insects. They can wipe out a honeybee hive in as little as 90 minutes, decapitating the bees and then defending the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.
The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honeybee, and sting multiple times. At one point the Washington agriculture department ordered special reinforced suits from China.
Washington is the only state that has had confirmed reports of northern giant hornets. Trappers found four nests in 2020 and 2021.
Spichiger said Washington will remain on the lookout, despite reporting the eradication. He noted that entomologists will continue to monitor traps in Kitsap County, where a resident reported an unconfirmed sighting in October but where trapping efforts and public outreach have come up empty.
He noted that other invasive hornets can also pose problems: Officials in Georgia and South Carolina are fighting yellow-legged hornets, and southern giant hornets were recently detected in Spain.
“We will continue to be vigilant,” Spichiger said.
Re-discovered tapes bear witness to Somaliland identity
HARGEISA: In a library in Somaliland, Hafsa Omer presses play on a small cassette player. The sound of a Somali lute interwoven with a woman’s soft singing fills the room.
Tapping her keyboard, Omer bobs with the rhythm of the pentatonic melody typical in the northern region of the Horn of Africa.
Since 2021, the 21-year-old has been painstakingly archiving and digitising a collection of some 14,000 cassettes at the Cultural Center in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital.
Bought back, found or donated, the tapes contain more than half a century of the musical, cultural and political life of the region.
Somaliland has run its own affairs since unilaterally declaring independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains unrecognized by any country.
That makes cultural heritage — like the tapes — vital.
“Many people don’t consider these things to be important, but they contain the whole history of my country,” Omer told AFP.
“My people don’t write, they don’t read. All they do is talk.”
Somalis have traditionally been primarily nomadic shepherds, with culture transmitted orally from one generation to another.
What is now Somaliland has long been a center of music and poetry — art that plays a crucial, even political, role in this corner of Africa.
The public radio station, Radio Hargeisa, also has a collection of over 5,000 reels and cassettes, programs and music recorded in its studios since its founding in 1943.
The tens of thousands of hours of tapes in the cultural center tell a less official story — ranging from 1970s counterculture “Somali funk,” to unreleased recordings of play rehearsals and accounts of people’s daily lives.
With small tape recorders becoming widely available in the 1970s and 1980s, Somalilanders got into the habit of corresponding with exiled relatives via cassette.
Gathered around a tape recorder, they would recount intimacies of family life but also survival during a decade-long war that culminated in the declaration of independence in 1991.
The conflict between rebels and the Mogadishu-based military regime of Siad Barre saw around 70 percent of Hargeisa destroyed in 1988.
Jama Musse Jama, director of the cultural center, described how troves of cassettes were recorded “underground” as people met clandestinely to chat, chew the stimulant khat and talk politics.
“They cannot say (these things) in public,” he said. “You find all what didn’t end up in the ordinary, formal recordings of the state — what was happening in the streets.”
Fewer than 5,000 cassettes have been catalogued and only 1,100 digitised, leaving a titanic task for Omer and her team of four friends.
But it has become a fitting cultural odyssey in a place still searching for recognition.
“It’s proof against those who say Somaliland doesn’t exist,” said Jama.
He believes his and Omer’s work will guide younger generations searching for their past — a storied history that stretches beyond their regional conflict to its time as an Italian and British colony and beyond.
“We need to give them an identity,” he said.
“All these stories that make up the identity of the Somaliland people are in these recordings.”
