There’s a concept in Denmark, an idea deeply ingrained within their culture, that’s known as “hygge” – pronounced “hoo-gah”.
No direct translation is possible, but hygge has to do with creating an environment of coziness and comfort; being with those you love and enjoying the simple, good things in life.
It’s a lovely idea, and as is the case with many lovely ideas connected to a certain culture, consumerism has done its best to all but destroy the word by marketing hygge as some kind of purchase-able lifestyle. As if it’s something that can be enjoyed only if you buy the right kind of mittens, blankets, scented candles and whatever else.
By the late 2010s, perhaps spurred on by a wider fascination with Scandinavian culture, hygge-mania was at its peak. Hygge was given its own page on the Danish tourism board’s website. In 2018, a Danish writer for Mashable wrote about the frustrating commodification of something that is supposed to be simple. One fellow Dane she interviewed said that, “I think what is happening is what happened with yoga and mindfulness. You can get $200 yoga pants, but that is not what yoga is about. You can get a ‘mindfulness plate’ – but what the hell is a mindfulness plate, I ask.”
I have to agree; being mindful, being content, enjoying beautiful things, none of this should require an admission fee.
And while I’m not about to link to a website specializing in knitted boots or adult-sized onesies, I will direct you to one of Denmark’s finest musical duos: Svaneborg Kardyb.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Two instruments: piano and percussion. This simple instrumentation allows the listener to hear the little details, like the occasional fluttering tambourine or creaking piano bench.
2. Two-part structure: a forward-grooving verse and a pausing chorus. This simple structure allows the song to loop itself meditatively in the listener’s head long after the final bars.
3. In the spirit of simplicity, I’m breaking with tradition and providing no third thing this week. Wait – but then is the absence of a third thing somehow a third thing in itself? Oh no, now I’m confused. Where’s my mindfulness plate?
Recommended listening activity:
Hugging a pillow.