‘hygge’ (pronounced hougge – think  the ‘oo’ in zoo) is a Danish word meaning cosy or something like cosy  -  cosy is as close a translation as we can get in English – but it’s oh so much more than a word – think concept, think candles, fire, warmth,   delicious wine, hot chocolate, friends.   The best description I’ve read of it is this: ‘a state of comfort, peace and warmth while in the company of loved ones’  from a blog called  speakdanish.dk blog .  ‘Hygge’ was a word I first learnt when I was working in Armenia. It was 1995, and often we only had electricity for a few hours each day, mostly at 3am – yeah – useful.  In the summer months this wasn’t so bad, there was light, it was warm. In the winter however with temperatures dipping as low as -20C, it took some getting used to.

As I worked for a Danish organisation at the time, there was a tonne of chatter about how to make things ‘hygge’  – the former Soviet Union was not known for its cosy, warm atmosphere so we had to create it. Candles, lighting fires and drinking some precious hot chocolate helped.

Over these winter months when the light is so dim here,  I light candles every day. Starting out at breakfast time, it just somehow gently eases us in to the dark mornings. We also light a fire most evenings, and read ALOT of stories. We try and make our home a ‘hygge’ place.  What else could I do to make life a bit more ‘hygge’ these wintery days?

Photo: Alesa Dam