Jo Messett-Jory, a mother of seven who lives in White Sands gets cozy with her daughter, Daphne and son, Tobias to enjoy hygge, her way of surviving the winter. Beth Atkinson photo.
When the power went out on Nov. 29, 2018 it left Jo Messett-Jory, her husband and her seven kids in the dark for nearly three days.
Messett-Jory lit some candles and gathered her family into the living room.
They played board games and read books while she cooked supper on the woodstove.
For the Jory family, it was just another day focused on savouring the comfort of each other’s company.
That’s because they follow a lifestyle called hygge (which sounds like ‘hoog’), a Danish word meaning a quality of comfort and coziness that creates a feeling of well-being.
To Messett-Jory, it had always been her way of doing things. During winter she chooses to look at the positives and enjoy it, she said.
“It seems kind of counterproductive to gripe about something that isn’t going anywhere as long as you live in Canada.”
Unbeknownst to her, she and her family had been practicing the technique of hygge for years.
“It’s something I have always been doing, I just hadn’t realized there was a name for it.”
Hygge, a Danish word for coziness and comfort, often involves family gatherings, board games and making food. Beth Atkinson photo.
Hygge peaked in 2016 with photos popping up on Instagram of aesthetic winter outfits and interior décor. People started decorating their homes in a ‘cozy’ fashion, wearing warm socks, drinking tea, and snuggling up beside the fireplace.
Samantha Pedersen moved to Charlottetown from Denmark in 2014.
Pedersen said she finds it funny how hygge is suddenly in the spotlight even though many don’t really understand it, nor do they own a fireplace.
“I wish people would see the true side to it…and now it’s a trend that has been pushed forward by a lot of bloggers.”
An important feature of hygge is human connection.
Pedersen believes some tourists must have visited one of Copenhagen’s small cafés where they refuse to allow WiFi to their patrons, to encourage them to socialize. They didn’t see the true nature of hygge before spreading the word.
And while hygge is important in the winter, it’s about more than just cozy socks.
“Hygge is a year-round thing that is applied to literally everything.”
Beth Atkinson 