Hygge/minimalist Consulting
What is Hygge and what is minimalism?
About two years ago, I decided to become a minimalist without realizing that there were already a ton of books and youtube videos on that subject. I created my own brand of minimalist to make me feel good. I got rid of 90% of my worldly belongings, rented my huge house in La Jolla Shores and rented a small apartment to which I transported things that brought me joy and purpose and I lived there happily ever after, realizing how little we need to be happy and how much de-cluttering helps us mentally so I started reading more and helping others do the same. That’s when I got familiar with the Danish concept of Hygge.
Hygge (pronounced hue-guh not hoo-gah) is a Danish word used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, eating, ordinary or extraordinary as cosy or charming. Helen Russell, a British journalist who wrote “The Year of Living Danishly,” defines the term as “taking pleasure in the presence of gentle, soothing things,” like a freshly brewed cup of coffee and cashmere socks.
In my humble opinion, it takes some learning or training to tune yourself to be a hyggeligt. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to buy certain things to adopt it. It’s not a thing and anyone telling you different either doesn’t understand it or is literally trying to sell you something that has nothing to do with the concept. You can’t buy a “hygge house”, a “Hygge room” and there’s no “hygge foods” yet there is a Hygge style you can adopt.
In our consumer and consumption society led by pinterest boards and social media, people think they must sell everything one weekend and start a room from scratch the next by going to the mall, while hygga is the opposite of just this.
Hygge literally requires consciousness, slowness, and the ability to not just be present – but recognize and enjoy the present. That’s why so many people distill ‘hygge’ down to being a ‘feeling’ – because if you don’t feel hygge, you probably aren’t using the word right.
Some also refer to hygge as an “art of creating intimacy”. While there’s truly no one English word to describe hygge, several can be used to describe the idea of hygge such as cosiness, charm, happiness, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, kinship.
Danes created hygge because they were trying to survive boredom, cold, dark and sameness and Hygge was a way for them to find moments to celebrate or acknowledge and to break up the day, months or years. With so many cold, dark, days, the simple act of a candle glowing with a cup of coffee in the morning or a home cooked evening meal with friends can make a huge difference to one’s spirit.
By helping you create simple rituals without effort in your home, food, scheduled busy lives, we help you see your domestic, professional and personal life as an art form and not a drudgery to get away from. We will help you incorporate hygge into your daily life so it becomes a natural extension rather than a forced and stressful event. We help you organize your life so you enjoy friends’ company with a simple tea infusion, lighting a candle and just being aware of the good “present” moment. Because the present is truly the only present we get.