L ATIMES.COM S SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020F3
only on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. And
you could select only two date ranges for
travel. Sundays were never available.
Neither were any of my requested trip
dates. And for the supposedly free trip,
there were more than $600 in initial costs.
Of course, the timeshare company
invited me to pay upgrades to make flight
times more flexible or to bump us up to a
less seedy hotel. But that route was
pointless. I could have booked the same
flights and hotels for less money and
more flexibility. And I could have done it
all without a three-hour timeshare pre-
sentation.
I’m back to square one, having aban-
doned the so-called prize. Actually, like
Rapunzel in the film “Tangled,” who’s
prophetically quarantined in a tower and
banned from the kingdom of Corona, it
feels as though I’ve been pulled from the
game board.
With Disney World closed and air
travel, personal finances and safety un-
certain, I miss that planning for Disney
World was once a possibility. Like every
other parent now, I’m anxious and trying
to do right by my kids. Like the Magic
Kingdom, a lot of life just got put on hold.
A lot of life became a small world after all.
But that’s OK because I’m going to
cherish the time I have with my prin-
cesses even as the days get longer and
harder. We’re watching more
Disney+, but we’re also inventing our
own magic kingdom in the basement.
This week we’ll run scenes from
“Moana,” and I’ll smile from the couch as
the girls sing to the horizon line that they
won’t see for a while. And me, I’m playing
the role of a fallen palm tree.
Noah Lederman is the author of the
memoir “A World Erased.”
Clay HicksonFor The TimesT A TIME of great unease,
with terms like “social
distancing,” “flattening the
curve” and “pandemic” embedded in
our vocabularies and psyches, one
Nordic word has the potential to give us
hope.
Hygge.
Pronounced “hoo-gah,” like “hula”
with a really excited U, “hygge is the art
of creating a nice atmosphere, taking
things slow and enjoying the simple
pleasures of life,” said Meik Wiking,
CEO of the Happiness Research Insti-
tute in Denmark and bestselling author
of “The Little Book of Hygge: Danish
Secrets to Happy Living.”
Derived from a Norwegian word for
“well-being,” hygge also means “cozy
togetherness,” “fun,” “safety and shield-
ing from the world,” “the absence of
annoyance” and the notion that your
home is, literally and metaphorically,
giving you a hug.
Nowmore than ever, hygge is needed
in our lives and homes — the concept a
palpable necessity as we humbly nod to
its origin. Hygge, after all, was created
as a survival mechanism — an “anti-
dote,” Wiking said, to the harsh Nordic
winter and the “duvet of darkness” that
envelops it.
Danes and Norwegians have been
practicing this for 200 years, honing
hygge as part of their national identity
and culture. Perhaps that’s the reason
that, despite spending half the year in
darkness sequestered in their homes,
these are reported to be among the
happiest people in the world.
So, how do weget hygge with it? (I
had to.)
Fittingly, our current isolated cir-
cumstances pose a timely opportunity
to give your house (and life) a big, cozy
hygge, creating a home you can cele-
brate, appreciate and rely on for com-
fort in this unsettling time.
“Home is always the place that
becomes our personal sanctuary,” said
the Los Angeles-based British interior
designer and author Martyn Lawrence
Bullard. “Comfort is modern luxury.”
So look around your abode and ask
yourself what it needs. And you don’t
necessarily need to shop for it.
According to “The Little Book of
Hygge,” achieving comfort, along withatmosphere, presence, pleasure, equal-
ity, gratitude, harmony, truce, together-
ness and shelter, is the purpose and
manifesto of hygge.
A plethora of traditions have evolved
from hygge, like creating a hyggekrog, a
quaint, comfy relaxation nook. (My
version is my purple loveseat under a
window clad with a cat perch, a snoring
cat and, across the room, Netflix’s
birchwood edition fireplace ablaze on
the TV — atmosphere, by any means.)
You can also do it by mindfully don-
ning your hyggebukser, “that one pair of
pants you would never wear in public
but are so comfortable they’re likely to
be, secretly, your favorites,” said Wik-
ing. (Admit it, you’ve been wearing
them. You’re still wearing them. And
you love it.)
Inventing a continuous sense of
magic hour in your home with candles,
or levende lys(living lights), and dimly
lit lamps is key to enjoying
søndagshygge, a relaxing day with hot
beverages, good reads, music and blan-
kets.
“Hygge is humble and slow,” Wiking
said. “It is choosing rustic over new,
simple over posh and ambience over
excitement.”
If you’re looking for design or decor
inspiration, organic elements of the
natural world — like plants, wool and
wood — are encouraged to echo the
sweet outdoors lost to the winds of
winter. Angelenos, in particular, cele-
brate year-round indoor/outdoor living
as part of our cultural identity; more
time indoors is an opportunity to ap-
preciate nostalgia and ponder the
sights, sounds, tastes and sensations
that create a feeling and memory of
hygge and hope for each of us.
“I might make a tiny Christmas
tree,” said Karen Rae Kaltenborn Noth-
stein, a Norwegian-Americanscreen-
writer whose L.A. company, Lost for
Word, adapts Scandinavian scripts for
English-speaking audiences.
A Christmas tree? In April?
“Why not?” she said. “Whatever
makes you feel good when we’re going to
be stuck inside.”
Christmas is the apex of hygge in
Norway and Denmark, not necessarily
for religious reasons but because it
occurs at the peak of darkness, the timeAngie WangFor The TimesHOME IS
WHERE THE
HYGGE IS
BY ARIELLE
PAUL
when humans need comfort, conviv-
iality and connectivity the most.
Suddenly, a Christmas tree in April
in Los Angeles makes sense.
Togetherness, the irreplaceable
purveyor of oxytocin (or the “cuddle
hormone”), is the most important
aspect of hygge. Right now, however, we
must firmly “hold together by standing
apart,” said Wiking.
And there are countless ways to do
that. In a Facebook post, I asked people
to share the ways they’re practicing
separate togetherness and making the
most of a challenging time.
One friend meets her pals for Face-
Time happy hour, others bake for their
elderly neighbor, and my husband
fights virtual reality zombies with fam-
ily back in New England. Newlyweds
who missed out on a “real” honeymoon
couldn’t be happier having quality time
staycationing with their pets.
Hygge is the warm spirit of resil-
ience, acceptance and joy through “a
minimalist state of gratitude,” said
Nothstein.
And don’t forget the snacks.
Experiencing pleasure and in-
dulging in “something sinful is also an
integral component of the hygge ritual,”
said Wiking. Whether it’s chocolate,
coffee, cake, sweets, mulled wine or a
bowl of buttery popcorn, it’s about
“giving your responsible, stressed-out
achiever adult a break,” he said.
As we’re temporarily separated from
loved ones, take this time to love your-
self a little more.
Bullard suggests taking a bath and
drinking a glass of wine out of your
grandfather’s best crystal glass: “Who
cares if it’s 1 p.m.! Live for today, use
your stuff and enjoy yourselves in what-
ever ways we can.”
If succulent treats and midafter-
noon happy hour is a bit too Dionysian
for you, do something creatively inspir-
ing or productive you’ve been putting
off (just make sure you’re having fun;
chores can wait).
Los Angeles artist Katrien Van Der
Schueren said she is spending time
painting inside her house and that her
husband and children formed a band.
“We film performances and send it to
the grandparents and my European
friends who are doctors on the front-
line,” said the Belgian-born Van Der
Schueren.
“This is a lesson in humility. At the
end of this, you will have a different
outlook on the important things.”
Let perspective keep you present
and grateful, and from this presence
regain perspective once again. Put
down your phone, pause, smell the hot
cocoa and remember, home is where
the hygge is.The author is a culture and design
writer in Echo Park.