I’ve written previously about hygge. Pronounced hoo-ga.
As well as being good for you, it’s easy and wickedly indulgent. Hygge has been described as creating intimacy, the absence of annoyance, cosiness of the soul and cocoa by candlelight.
Hygge is not a physical thing, it’s something you feel. Being present and enjoying every minute of it. For example, don’t just light a candle then plonk it somewhere over there and ignore it as you watch the box. For a few minutes, just observe it, it’s very calming, hypnotic even.
Thick woollen socks, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, log fires, a good book, a cosy blanket are all hygge. Do yourself a favour, be good to yourself, do some hygge and to hang with the outside world.
And that made me think over the hectic Christmas period of a new craze that’s doing the rounds. It’s called “slow living”.
What is slow living? Is it just another silly fad? I don’t think so. It makes a lot of sense to me, especially in the current hectic, stressful world we live in.
So many of us in the western world live our lives at full throttle. Just take a conscious look around you. Fast food, fast cars, profit growth, targets, better and bigger everything, 24-hour news on a loop, laptops, tablets, phones connected to the internet and constant social media.
As a society we seem to thrive on being busy, we “enjoy” being under pressure, meeting goals and climbing the ladder, always trying to attain more and more of whatever it is we believe will make us happy.
I know myself, or the person I used to be, always pushing myself, always wanting to achieve more and more. Not money I may add, but whatever project I was working on, totally focused on that and nothing else.
Most of us are not living in the moment. It really is a mad way to live. But is there an alternative?
Firstly, let’s debunk a few myths about “slow living”. It’s most definitely not an excuse to be lazy, to veg out, not to take responsibilities and slump on the couch watching daytime TV, or if you’re in Canada munching on lovely cannabis chocolate all day long.
On the subject of cannabis use, thanks to all who got in touch re my recent column. Some fascinating personal tales of cannabis use in there. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me!
Neither is slow living about doing everything as slowly as possible, doing nothing or being anti-technology and living as a hermit, shunning society.
Then what is it? What is slow living?
Slow living is where you create a more meaningful and conscious lifestyle, where you value things that are important to you. And it’s these last two words that are the important ones. “To you”.
Important “to you”. Not anyone else.
Turning off that TV or phone, going for a walk in nature, reading a book, listening to relaxing music at a time when society says you really should be switched on and watching the news yet again for another Covid update, or on social media finding out what others are thinking.
By slowing down, and dropping the phrase “I’m too busy”, you may actually live better.
Switch off auto pilot and tune into yourself and others around you.
Think of your own wellbeing. Those who promote slow living claim that it makes you live up to your own idea of success, not what society dictates how you should live.
Now, that doesn’t mean deciding not to pay your bills at the end of the month. Slow living is definitely not about not fulfilling your legal obligations. Tax, and that ever-increasing higher gas bill, whether we like it or not, have to be paid.
Of equal importance, or possibly even more important than defining what is important to you, is deciding what is not important to you.
Each of us really should learn to say no to non-essentials if we don’t want them in our lives. Peer pressure to do stuff, or buy whatever product, has never been more powerful.
Learn to say no.
We live in a 24/7/365 world of breaking news on a constant loop – it can be fascinating and informative, yet I have to admit I’ve recently found it increasingly draining.
I’m glued to my laptop most of the day, and find myself, in between writing, clicking on various news sites to see what is going on.
The funny thing is, usually not much is going on since I clicked on it 10 minutes ago.
I personally need to do much more of putting into place a slow information diet. To choose what I want to see and when, not constant flicking back and forth.
As for TV news, I find it utterly depressing these days. I mean if you put on a news channel or programme, it just churns out the same story over and over. Usually, more Covid scaremongering and blatant one-sidedness.
There’s never been a better time, I feel, to adopt a slow-living attitude to the doom and gloom rolling news.
Is it not time that we all “used” technology, as opposed to letting technology “use us”?’
The benefits of slow living can include having more free time; as we spend less time on screens, our mental health gets better, stress goes down and our relationships improve as we have more time to put effort into them.
By simply living by your values, by living better, not faster, you really could write your own lottery ticket here.
I’d like to take this opportunity to mention a superb internet radio station. I’ve been listening to it for years. It’s called Whisperings Solo Piano Radio. It’s free to listen to, of course, you’ll find it online. It claims it’s “music to quiet your world”.
If you like it, you’ll actually love it, I play it nearly all day, it’s always on in the background. Go take a look, or a listen I should say. You’ll instantly feel like you’re “slow living”, even as you go about your daily tasks.
Food can also be slow. As opposed to our bloated world of fast food, making hearty stews and soups from scratch is very slow living. It gives you a great sense of achievement when you finally tuck in. And as we all know; it tastes so much better.
Many can feel pressured to go out and socialise. Go if you want of course, but if you don’t feel like going to a specific gathering, then just don’t. Live your way, no one else’s.
Fed up with the constant noise, anger and fury on Twitter or other social media platforms. Answer? Don’t look at it! Buy a P&J instead. Even better get it delivered, then sit down in peace and read it at your leisure. A great example of slow living.
You’re the boss remember, it’s your life, you make the decisions, not anyone else.
Slow living can also be incorporated into your working life. Every day, I use a special light display up. It sits on the window sill and goes on as soon as I wake up, sometime after 6am.
Alongside the previously mentioned radio station on in the background, it warms up an otherwise cold, dark bleak morning. Even though I’m working, it creates a wonderful mix of hygge and sense of slow living.
I’m working, but it doesn’t fee like it due to the atmosphere I’ve helped create.
Never, in my opinion, is there a better time to practice slow living than during January and February. Christmas is long gone. The weather is bleak and it seems to be dark most of the day. Spring? It can feell like a million years away.
Maybe you disagree with all I say. Maybe you enjoy a hectic switched-on 24/7 world. That’s fine, for we are all different.
However, unless you believe in reincarnation, this is it. One life. This is not a dress rehearsal.
Whatever way you choose to live, fast and furious, or decide to adopt a slower living lifestyle, just make sure it’s what you want, and make it your decision. Not what the rest of society dictates how you should live.
Remember, it’s your life.
No one else’s.