Look up "hygge" on Instagram and you’ll find 1.7-million posts on wooly socks and hot chocolate.
Pinterest experienced a 285% spike on hygge pins
and, last year, it was shortlisted as the Oxford dictionary word of the year.
What was once a Danish custom is now big in the U.S.
Meik Wiking is the founder of the Happiness Research Institute
and the author of The Little Book of Hygge, a bestseller that was reprinted three times before its release
and is published in 26 countries.
– Alright, Mike.
Tell me, what is hygge?
– Hygge is being consciously cozy, but it has also been described as the art of creating a nice atmosphere.
It’s been called the pursuit of everyday happiness.
It's also been called socializing for introverts.
– Okay!
– But it's about being together with the people you love.
It's about relaxation. It's about indulgence.
It's about good food. It’s about gratitude.
It’s about equality.
All of those things mixed together is hygge.
– Would you characterize hygge as a lifestyle trend or as self-help?
– Actually, neither.
I mean, to us Danes, hygge is part of our culture.
It's part of our national DNA, perhaps the same way that Americans see freedom as inherently American.
– If you think hygge just sounds like a trendy Scandinavian catch-all for
all the things humans like in the dead of winter—
comfort foods and ambiance—you’re not wrong.
But the Danes’ conviction is singular.
They burn more candles than anyone in Europe and they eat a lot of candy per capita,
all in pursuit of hygge.
– I think there is savoring pleasures.
Indulgence is, I think, key in terms of hygge, and perhaps also something sinful.
I think also hygge is taking a break from demands of healthy eating,
so it is about cake, it is about candy, it is about hot chocolate, it is about alcohol,
some even might say it’s about, you know, sinful pleasures.
– Hygge is horrible for your health, conceivably?
–You could say that.
I mean, compared to the Swedes and the Norwegians, we have a shorter life expectancy.
We do eat more unhealthy.
– But Type II diabetes and fire hazards aren’t what Danes are known for.
They’re known for happiness.
Denmark consistently places first in the UN’s World Happiness Report,
an international poll where citizens are asked to self-evaluate on their well-being.
The U.S., for all our “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” has never cracked the top 10.
– So what does America have to learn from Denmark in terms of happiness and hygge?
– I think, in many ways, Denmark is what the U.S. would look like if Bernie Sanders was President.
I think the most defining feature of Danish culture and life and politics is our democratic socialism.
Universal health care, equal opportunities for men and women, free university education, social security.
At a certain point, additional income, it does not lead to improved quality of life.
– Hygge’s been huge all over Europe for a while, but it’s zeitgeisting nicely stateside.
With the help of Danish transplants like Claus Meyer, a chef and restaurateur,
hygge is finding its place in America.
Meyer has been living in the U.S. for a year and a half and has hygge over dinner every night
with his wife Christina, an interior designer, and their daughters.
– What about this is hygge versus just, like, any other family just eating a meal?
– We actually have made an active decision not to be on the phone while we are together.
And that everybody’s included in the conversation.
– And I've been to other families where they just don't even eat together.
But maybe the parents are doing something else, or they're on their phones or computers,
and they don't really talk to each other.
And I can we really feel the difference in the atmosphere.
– While Meyer does impart some Danish culture to his staff, offering paid maternity and paternity leave,
he doesn’t think Denmark runs a monopoly on hygge.
It’s that naming it and recognizing gives it power.
– Do you fear that doing hygge will fade the more time you spend here?
– It could, probably. In many, many years.
But it is one element of life.
I naturally believe that many people find that moment, they just call it something else.
Some moment of groundedness and where you're close to other people and
listen with your heart and heart and see people with your heart.
And even though we're more conscious about it, I can't imagine that it doesn't exist somewhere else.