Discover How To Be As Happy As The People Of Denmark
18 November 2022
[Video Transcript]
Hygge Is Happiness. Ask The Danes
Insights from 'The Little Book Of Hygge' by Meik Wiking
Hi-ge? Heeg-uh? Hhyooguh?
You’re probably wondering how to pronounce this absurdly spelled word.
Guess what? How you choose to pronounce it or even spell “Hygge” doesn’t matter.
To paraphrase one of the greatest philosophers of all time – Winnie-The-Pooh – when asked how to spell a certain emotion Love in this case – “You don’t spell it, you feel it.”
Hygge too is about an experience, rather than a thing.
It’s a feeling of home, of safety, as you will find in the book, The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, written by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute.
Wiking was curious about the concept of happiness.
How it can be measured?
Why some people are happier than others?
And why does Denmark, with its horrific weather and exorbitant tax rates, consistently tops global lists of happiness rankings?
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These questions kept him awake and the answers resulted in The Little Book of Hygge which explains how hygge keeps a country happy and suggests tips on how to make it a part of your everyday life— at home and at work.
So “Hygge” originates from a Norwegian word meaning “well-being.”
For almost five hundred years, Denmark and Norway were one kingdom, and “hygge” had appeared in written Danish for the first time in the early 1800s.
Now, Denmark may have lost Norway in 1814, but “Hygge” stayed on.
Naturally, there’s a growing interest in “hygge”.
If you’ve reached the end of this video, then your 12 minutes to understanding hygge, or happiness, have already begun!
