When You Fear Your Hygge Is Inferior

 At some point you may have travelled to Denmark or have plans to visit soon. It is hard for foreigners not to feel inferior in the capital city. Suddenly, looking at the streets humming with people, huddling together for warmth and the candle filled restaurants, illuminating their exterior with a warm glow you realise just how un-hygge you feel. In the land where the concept of hygge began it is easy to feel like a fraud. Danes were raised with the concept of hygge, it is ingrained in their DNA. No one will understand hygge better than the Dane. Although other Nordic countries have their own version of hygge it will never seem as organic as the hygge experienced in the Mother land.

Compared to a Danes apartment, your apartment looks a total mess. A cluster of cacti here, a couch enveloped in layers of blankets. What were you thinking? I will tell you what you were thinking. In the moment you decorated and rearranged your belongings to feel more hygge, you stepped into the present moment and you were contemplating what felt right to you. You basically fell into a trance and reached hygge-lightenment. Nothing is more authentically hygge than listening to your own heart in the present moment.

Danes don’t walk around hunting for tourists and asking to exchange Instagram addresses with them just so that they, and their friends can laugh at what you people hashtag ‘hygge’ later. The truth is the Danes really don’t care. They think it’s cool that you like a concept invented here and that they hope you find a way to achieve it in your life. Danes are pretty laid-back people and why not, they invented hygge! They are not going to point out your lack of Danish heritage, they will more than likely enjoy talking about it with you. If a mutual friend of yours introduces you, of course. Danes do not talk to strangers.

When travelling to Denmark or Nordic countries in general it is important to remind yourself of a few things. Nordic’s have been doing this much longer than you and practice makes perfect. Nordic countries get serious weather. I mean serious. For many in these countries it is not a choice but a necessity to decorate a certain way and live a certain way. Without the warmth and cosiness of the hygge home one may not make it through the winter. If physically ok on the surface, one may be feeling very low. Winters are long and harsh and if morale and cosiness is not kept up to standard in the home people can suffer severely with depression and anxiety. Denmark landscape is very different to most places in the world and so every opportunity for hygge is found somewhere in Denmark. In other countries you may have to travel far to visit hiking trails or the beach.

Do not be fuelled into thinking Denmark is one big hygge fest every single second of the day. It's attempted but sometimes life get's in the way. Once on a dog walk in Aarhus I stepped in a pile of vomit covered in leaves. Not very hygge, but it does show how tidy the Danes are as a country. 

No matter how ugly the person next to you is, it doesn’t make you any prettier. No matter how much hygge Denmark possesses it doesn’t take away from your hygge. No matter how hygge-errific your best friend’s house is, it doesn’t make yours any less hygge. There is only one winner in hygge and that is you. The prize is the feeling. No one can ever say their way to hygge is better than yours because there is no way of measuring it. No way to compare. Trying to work out who gets more hygge would be like trying to work out who is more in love.

So, if you are ever in Denmark, do not shy away from the Danes, ask them their opinion on your view of hygge and any pictures you have of your home. They may want to help you and at the very least they will love hearing you trying to pronounce the word ‘hygge’ correctly. Only do this if you have a mutual friend, Danes don’t talk to strangers. Seriously.

When you are done reading my blog, why not check out my Hygge youtube channel. 

Freja