Rumor has it that the land of palaces, Tivoli and the Little Mermaid is one of the happiest in the world. In fact, it's not just a rumor: the United Nations itself confirms it in the ranking it prepares each year to highlight the corners where people smile the most.
The Danes, just below Finland, are characterized by a joviality linked to their lifestyle, and with a term that sums up the secret of their well-being very well: they call it hygge.
What makes Danes so happy?
Higher temperatures don't always translate into better moods, nor vice versa. Despite the cold, Danes stand out for enjoying life more than the rest of the population. How do they do it?
To put this secret into practice, we need to start by changing our behavior. This means putting on the brakes, slowing down and remembering from time to time that we do things, like work, to live, not the other way around.
With this, we can say that hygge is about knowing how to devote enough time to ourselves and enjoying moments of disconnection. The Danish pace of work is hectic, coupled with other family responsibilities and obligations at home that reduce free time.
Precisely for this last reason, the Danes attach great importance to the distribution of furniture and space in the home. According to the Scandinavians, the home is where the real strength of their philosophy of life lies.
Tips for adopting the Danish lifestyle
The importance of feeling at home
From LIVING we offer a few tips on how you too can imitate Danish style and create a warm atmosphere at home.
If we start with lighting, it's important to rely on soft, natural lights. Here, the addition of candles is also essential: they love them for their sweet smells and prefer them in white.
This actually makes a lot of sense, considering that this color is associated with harmony and balance, so lighting a candle can be very useful for conveying calm and purifying the environment.
Finally, every home should have a corner in which to disconnect. For the Danes, this is usually around the fireplace. In our house, it could be on that big dining table where we meet our friends or on the porch of our house.
Decoration is also essential to be able to convey that happiness from the moment our guests walk through the door. Some of our favorite must-haves to achieve this include everything from beautiful china dishes or a china tea set to rustic-style elements, cushions, etc.
In addition to the domestic environment, hygge can (and should) be part of everything we do in our daily lives. If you've come this far, it's because you want a change in your life too. It works for the Danes, so maybe that's the signal you needed to start reading that book that's been catching your eye, or to catch up with your childhood friends.
Summary
I'm a big fan of short stories about people – I'm a pro at tech and smartphones, serial literature, and writing in my spare time.
