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I'm obsessed with hygge - the Danish word referring to the quality of coziness and comfortable surroundings that invoke an inner sense of well-being. If you're not familiar, think of the feeling you get sitting by a fireplace wrapped in a blanket on a cold winter’s day while sipping a barista-quality latte. TBH, I think the hygge-loving Danes are onto something. Their national obsession with all things cozy is why Denmark is always at the top of the list of the world's happiest countries, in spite of some pretty miserable winter months.
Maybe it's because I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska or went to college at Valparaiso University in a place affectionately known to residents as Valpo-rain/snow, Windy-ana (Valparaiso, Indiana). Either way, my Midwest nostalgia kicks in around mid-October and I start to chase winter. This consists not of skiing, skating, or snow-boarding - but of collecting and poring over L.L. Bean catalogues looking for the coziest, warmest, shearling lined item I can find, which is a much safer activity for me - lest I find myself snowed in for months of frigid hibernation in Nashville, Tennessee. Not too likely, although we did get seven inches of snow this weekend, which was very exciting and yes, a little fear-inducing for Music City locals.
Call me crazy, but I love winter! There's nothing as beautiful or peaceful as watching snow fall on a quiet street while you're inside having cozy thoughts and deep talks with those you love best. Lewis Carroll captured it perfectly with this sentiment, “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
So bring it on, Old Man Winter! Let the days get shorter, colder, and darker. Because then I can embrace the evening of the seasons (guilt-free!) cocooned in my blanket and ridiculously warm socks with a gripping mystery novel, a Succession - Season 3 binge, or perhaps just pen a Hygge Haiku....which is what I've been doing (when not engaged in the previous two activities) to really channel the magic of the winter solstice:
Gray clouds quilt the skies
Frozen tears creep down my face
I love wintertime!
Hot bath, Hot cocoa
Makes bone-chilling cold worth it
Where are my wool socks?
Feverish and sick
Runny nose and frozen toes
Don’t I look pretty?
Okay...kinda cringy, but hygge haikus are super fun to write! They demand careful observation, crisp economic language, and perhaps a zany third line of sudden insight if you're the talented-in-verse type. So, get in your winter snugglies and take pen to paper as you write a hygge haiku. If nothing else, you'll feel wintery warm and super Danish.
Click for more Hygge Haiku writing ideas and inspo!
