Exploring Hygge

Looking out my window the snowflakes are coming down hard and fast.  They are amazingly large as they fall from the sky, covering the ground with whiteness.  It feels so wonderful to be all snug and warm in my home, having everything cancelled and the business of life is put on hold for a day. It feels funny that this is the first day of spring and we are having a blizzard outside.  It does feel nice and warm inside and the snow wont last long.  It will be gone as quickly as it came.

I have discovered Hygge over the last year and this is a very lovely hyggeligt sort of day.  “Hygge ( Hoo-gah ) Is a Danish concept of coziness. The art of creating warmth, comfort, and well being through connection, treasuring the moment, and surrounding yourself with things you love. ”  I enjoyed that definition of hygge by Pia Edberg which she gives in her wonderful book titled The Cozy Life.  I have been reading everything I can find on hygge and just reading about it makes me feel good.  The authors of the different books I’ve read have done a lovely job of sharing what hygge feels like. Now if I could capture that cozy, warm feeling and start applying it to my own life, that would be brilliant.

One of the first books I’ve read on hygge was Becoming Hygge: 31 Day Challenge For Living Hyggeligt Life by Hilda Christensen.  I have enjoyed how she shares ways to bring hygge into your ever day life.  One of the first places to begin, according to Hilda, is in the mornings when you first wake up.  What could be done to create a nurturing warm and connected experience for yourself and your loved ones?   The Author of Becoming Hygge suggests getting up a bit earlier so that you can have more time in creating routines that will lift and rejuvenate you through out the rest of your day.  Every ones morning is going to be different so it can be a grand adventure to find what will work best for you.  My morning starts pretty early and on those cold mornings I like to make a cup of herbal tea to drink as I write my morning pages.

Morning pages is the act of writing whatever thoughts come into your mind and getting them all out on the page.  I learned about morning pages years ago from Julia Cameron in her book the Artist’s Way.  Morning Pages has become a form of meditation for me and has helped me let go of the negativities and challenges of life.  Then I like to fill my mind with positive and uplifting thoughts.  So for me I turn to the scriptures and spend some time reading and pondering in them each morning. When I miss doing these simple things I feel it in my day and it just doesn’t flow as well.  I have also been striving to focus on being grateful and looking for all the blessing in my Life.  Sometimes I’ll wake up and feel all out of sorts, but after my morning routine I tend to feel a lot better and I feel that I can face my day.  The Author of Becoming Hygge also gave some great ideas of preparing breakfast with mindfulness and taking some time to exercise in the morning,  which I would like to start applying to my mornings.

The snow has taken a break and the little birds are outside my window hopping from branch to branch singing their sweet little songs, while there is snow covering everything.

“Hygge is simply loving the moment that you are in.”

    ~Hygge: The Danish Secrets of Happiness

I am loving my Moment.

 

Finding The Magic

My First Discovery on my Quest to find the Magical Places in my Neighborhood and Town.

The idea of enjoying and finding the beautiful in the ordinary days of our lives is very fascinating to me.  Its so easy to just try and survive each day instead of actually thriving.  The ordinary and everydayness of life can seem so very boring.  Yet that seems to be what most of my days are made of very ordinary moment compiled together into a very big whole and I wonder if I am cherishing these moments or are they just flying by without any thought or care.  Am I living simply for the next vacation or holiday.  I would like to change that and live more purposefully and meaningfully.  One idea I have had is to go on a quest and find the magical and enchanting spots right in my own neighborhood and town.  How many of these spots will I be able to find?  When you have lived some where for a long time it feels like you have seen and done everything.  Maybe I have just become used to seeing whats right in front of me and not being open to other possibilities.  Is this how I want to continue living my Life?  Taking it for granted.

I would like to make some changes starting with finding the magic in my everyday and very “ordinary” surroundings.

So Let The Quest Begin!

I would love to have you join me,go and search for the magical spots in your own neighborhood and post them on my Facebook Group.

Bringing in the Light

This has been such a dark and dreary day it is hard not letting it affect my soul and bring me down. I have been wondering how can I bring more light into my life during this time of the year. Filling my heart up so that whatever the weather is outside it doesn’t affect me. So that I can still feel the light inside.
I have been thinking about twinkly lights all around the house some over the mantle and some in the living room maybe I could put some in my bedroom. I have also been collecting candles and putting them all over the house. That does seem to help a little bit but Im wondering if I need something deeper. Something that will last all winter long and into the Spring and beyond. I was able to attend a wonderful training meeting this weekend and the Stake Relief Society President shared an amazing article with us called Sweet Above All That Is Sweet. One of the first things I did was come home and read it and it was so beautiful. It is about understanding the atonement of Jesus Christ better and understanding Grace and what a wonderful blessing it is in our lives. Im thinking that is what I need, a deeper relationship with our Savior. Letting Him be my light that shines in the darkness. Letting my heart be drawn out in gratitude for the many blessings that I have in the everydayness of life. It can be so easy to think of what I might have missing in my life or what I want to have in my life instead of enjoying what is in my life right here and now. So Im going to work on being more grateful and enjoy the ordinary everydayness of life. I want to go back to writing in my gratitude journal and recording all the joyful and happy little things that happen each day. Cherishing the days.
Here is the link to that article that was so uplifting http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=3379

Michaelmas Celebration

 

 

There is something so magical about this time of year.  I love how the trees start to change colors and the air turns crisp and cool.  I also love the different festivals and holidays that can be celebrated.  One of my favorites is Michaelmas and I tend to celebrate it my own way not following any of the rules.  But one thing we enjoy doing is making the dragon bread.  This was our dragon bread we made. I was so excited with how it turned out and the children seemed to have fun helping me decorate it.  Its a very big cinnamon roll!   I like to think about how to bring more light into our lives as the season starts to shift and we start losing the light outside.  One thing that we did besides make the dragon bread and read St. George and the Dragon is to do a service for someone.   Since the children are getting older its a fun way for us to keep enjoying this festival.