The Treasure of Hygge

Being a human being doesn't feel very marvellous for many of us, much of the time. There are so many who carry sadness, trauma, grief, pain; who wrestle with depression, suicidality or even just misfitment- we've been abandoned, cast aside or we just don't belong where we got deposited in to life...& it hurts. Perhaps for no apparent reason at all, there are those who just haven't figured out who they're meant to be- a disconnection from true self occurs and there's just no spark or colour. As a by-product of such states- addictions, ocds and personality, eating and social disorders can arise. In the past we've locked such people in asylums- away from the "normal" world, casting them off as worthless to society or branding them unsolvable.

Of recent times, new theories have suggested that the remedy for the spectrum of addiction is simply- connection. Simplistically, that's not a bad concept- after all, the higher self hook-up (a primal form of connection) has been the basis for the AA programme from it's inception. But...we've come to discover, through our long healing journey, that there's a whole realm of something quite else- something so deep and wide and profoundly restorative that it way surpasses mere connection and truly begins to resolve the melancholy many of us experience. The essence of this something else is called Hygge. Hygge has been popularised through social media and the internet over recent years and it's certainly a very happy concept and lovely of Norway and Denmark to let the rest of world in on their secret, but here in New Zealand some of the Hygge characteristics just don't quite fit our climate or our style. If you look up "what is Hygge?" you'll find it described as "cosiness" most of all, along with lots of nice lists about woolie jumpers, hot chocolate, blazing fires and socks. More recently there's been a leaning towards the inclusion of decluttering and even a touch of minimalism. 

(Of course you don't have to be bruised or squashed to live a Hygge life you can just be a perfectly regular human being!)

Then one day we woke up and realised that our whole lives are Hygge (Hoo-gah) in the most wonderful and charming sense of the word and concept.

We began to realise that connection alone had healed very little for us, but as we began to settle in to the feel and space of the authentic people we have finally unearthed and become, we also began to find and live in the rhythms of of our kind of Hygge- and it is, in fact, Sunshine Vintage life.

Sunshine Vintage Hygge means coming to everyday life with the eyes of a child. 

And simply paying attention.

To see and notice the tiny blue forget-me-nots in spring and remember the sweetheart rose Cecile Brunner of my wedding bouquet- now nearly 40 years a memory.

In fact, Hygge is brimming over with nostalgia.

It means allowing ourselves to hold, value, create the tiny darling things that mean nothing to the consumeristic world, but speak to our tender hearts of peace, comfort, safety and innocence.

 It means rustic, homemade nourishing food so that even date slice (caramel square, cheese scones- doesn't matter what it is) is not just a "treat" but a happily included, heart- warming part of the day, the tea party, the picnic or the- "I think I'll make myself a cuppa & have a slice of that".

 Fruit juice made in to jellies and stored in jam jars in the fridge speak to our child hearts and make us feel nurtured and happy, yet truly nourish our guts too,

 The seasons and the gifts that pour forth from them, lift our spirits and amaze us with their faithful provision. Every October and November we keep our eyes peeled for elderflowers. The inhalation of the scent of an elderflower immediately reminds our ragged souls that life is good, help is at hand, and that just as before- all will be well.

 Queen Anne's Lace is a wild flower that is a special flowery friend to me and I am always so excited when I spot her unique little signature gift- the red heart at her centre "No reason", she says, "just because I love you".

 Blankets and rugs- vintage, hand knitted or crocheted, op-shopped, gifted or handed down they are one of our favourite Sunshine Vintage Hygge treasures. We have piles and piles of them- all in different shades and colours.

 They often have dear label stories like this Robinwul.

Even cemeteries can be quaint Hygeely places where peace is found and homemade elderflower champagne is welcome.

 There we may also find Heartsease, Johnny-Jump-Ups, Heart's Delight, Jack-Jump-Up-and-Kiss-Me.

 A good farmer's market is a Hyggery kind of place where we might find connection, good conversation and Granny's Secret lettuces.

 Light- all of it- sunrise, sunset, moon rise, "that certain kind of light" are all part of Hygge and how we see the world.

 Garden rooms, small spaces, garden furniture, quirky toadstools, bouquets of wildflowers, vintage tablecloths and more old blankets- just in case it gets chilly, also warm our little hearts.

 One of the artists that we loved the most out at the Wildflowers and Sculpture exhibition was Katie Whitcombe. Her work embodied a certain kind of Hygge. It was described in the brochure this way:
 "Katie's work encompasses the old and sometimes forgotten. Here she has worked on the tools of the trade- saws that cut down trees and help build homes, wheelbarrows that carried heavy loads, spades that helped dig holes for foundations or to plant life. These items now have a new purpose, to remind us of the history and the beauty that can still be held in forgotten objects."

 Fabulous, delicious, colour-full, beautifully crafted food from Hapi at the Farmer's Market made us feel special and it was delicious shared at Christmas.

 Picnics in the landscape where we find ourselves perennially warmly welcome...

 and we are offered gifts of food and medicine wherever we go.

Gloriously scented rugosa roses are just exquisite and dry beautifully too.

 Fragrance and over-the-topness is a quintessential part of a Hygge life.

 Bothering to be so intricate and well formed- just because that's what you're here for- to be a rosebud pelargonium is quite astonishing. Even better that they each have such lovely provenance.

 Touch- especially the hand of a grandchild- suspended in time as precious.

 Learn to sniff and savour like a child.

And delight in water- a sprinkler found for $2 that brings us squealing joy with it's rhythms as it waters the lawn. 

 And delight in hearts made for human joy.

 Shepherd's Purses whom most see as a weed, but can staunch bleeding and save a life.

Cats know how to do Hygge perfectly- you just make yourself right at home, even in someone else's house.

 The warmth of Hygge can envelope us at any moment- it's often wrapped in beauty.

 Be-bothered to make butter curls for a picnic in the park, is a Hyggery thing to do.

 Especially when that picnic is in the middle of a park garden, under the indulgent eye of the just emerging magnolias.

 Of course Hygge is also found in books, illustrations and beautiful art.

 There's something about the quirky, the unusual that offers itself as a joke but it delicious and makes us smile. Their grandiose name is Rampicante.

 That something can be repaired or mended is also comforting and offers the gift of reassurance.

 Wandering in the landscape we find ourselves continually welcome.

 And look there too is Hygge!

 The Hygge cafe at Clifton describe Hygge this way:
Hygge is a Danish term pronounced "Hue Guh".
It means the essence of what is good in this life.
WARMTH HAPPINESS ENJOYMENT COMFORT PEACE
Whether warmed by the fire or warmed by the heart.
~
The loving acceptance and enjoyment of the moment
alone or together, away or at home
ordinary or extraordinary
with family or friends.
~
We believe in creating a sense of comfort.
​ The place you are in, the people you are with, is important to us, so we aim to create you a sanctuary.
We believe in celebrating and appreciating the seasons and look to making space to warm the heart.
~
Our food is sourced ethically and as much as we possibly can, organically.
Our decor is chosen with the feeling of home in mind and we hope it sparks joy with you.
~
Immerse yourself in the gift of the moment.

 Hygge is slow, nourishing comfort food

 like roasted fig icecreeam

And a walk in the woods in early spring to gather wild violets

to make into this glorious violet honey syrup that heals a sore throat so beautifully and tastes amazing and is kept in the freezer!

Hygge is peering in the window of home and knowing that the lights are on just for you.

 For as Brigitt Anna O'Neill urges us:

"....Find the emptiness inside and fill it with love, rest, plans, inspiration and adventure.
Fill it with life!"

Go!...

Giving The Fairy Feet

I've never really been a wishful thinker or a flibbety-gibbet. I'm not a dreamer or a schemer, nor do I get lost in fairytales. I would have liked a happy life.

Just that.

But we don't get to chose our heritage, do we. We are given what we get!

And then it's our work to do, to resolve, heal & redeem.

My journey has been hard. Many times I have nearly drowned, yet here I am, having plumbed to the bottom in the murk, now gliding in calm clear waters.

The tools I need to build with are now in my hands, the strength is in my back & the fairy now has feet, at last.

I am well practised in the language of authenticity & the arts of imperfection. I have let go all the structures & the judgments of the past & I now rest.

I rest in being me; fully.

In the early days of blogging I "met" a dear kindred soul who wrote at Fading Grace. Many are the metamorphoses of Sophie who quite recently wrote this truly charming dedication to her followers & friends over at 
hettie brown : 

...."It seems a shame to me to give way, to the more popular, more stylish, younger, thinner, perfect bloggers, although they too have their place. What about the not so perfect, the slightly wonky, the ones who admit to their failures and crapness at times, I think we are worthy too.

So I continue to scribble away here, with my heart on my sleeve, with my successes and total pants failures. I am being brave, I have no idea who reads it, and some idea of those who do who i wished didn't.  When i dont write , I miss it, when I stop missing it, Ill stop writing.....

So I dedicate this blog and all its writings from this post onwards to the

Wonky, broken people who happen to stop by,
to the shy and introverted, and maybe not so,

who always drop their dinner down their fronts and mostly look like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards,

to those who wear big knickers and knit their own socks,

who are fraying and maybe greying a little round the edges......

To all the misplaced souls who strive for perfection and never quite reach it

I write this blog for you

Love

hettie brown"

Here I am one of the wonky & not quite so broken ones, only dropping my dinner down my front on occasions. As to the big knickers...well you'll never know!

Sophie's words make me feel right at home; found.

Another friend passed on the writings of Jeff Brown on Facebook about New Year. Every day I am encouraged & expanded, empowered & strengthened by what I read.

It's about giving the fairy feet.

It's about finding romance in the naked fires of everyday life.

Oh yes!

Jeff Brown

(The little ballerina is me, by the way)

So what does all that mean?

It means taking Pollyanna & making here real, grounding her...& I don't mean sending her to her room! As an old Pastor friend once preached....let it work grace.

In the fiery yet enervating heat of summer we fill our paddling pools in the garden & sit & rest & chat, not fussing that there's nowhere to swim. 

We fill our pretty jug with cool water & lemon & we drink!

A little music might be nice...streaming jazz is great, the reception not so much.

So he put the little speaker up here. That's better.

A kindy teacher from way up north kindly sent me some of her giant sunflower seeds. I figured growing up the nice high wall might be good

 but the traitors just stand there waving at the neighbours!

 The birds come & feast on the early figs & they are welcome, yet time & again I go to the tree & find one is being eaten & right beside it one is ripe yet untouched. That's kind sharing, don't you think?

 Bright & early one morning, quite recently, there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find...

 a long package containing a stick!
Fortunately the other half was waiting in the letterbox.
Shoes everywhere, leaves & debris scattered all around.....not so perfect (fairy feet)!

A spontaneous & thoughtful gift from my dear & treasured friend Julie who lives a creative, crafty & truly inspiring life near Te Awamutu.

Our birds are so used to us by now, they made themselves right at home immediately.

I have been trying to grow hollyhocks in my garden for years now, without success & especially trying hard to grow the double dwarf variety. I've tried them in all the places I was sure that they would love & even in pots but time after time they would curl up their toes until...just one, grew right here. Apparently they are an oak-leaf variety.

 I have tried some more along Margaret's front fence next door. Some are single, some are double most are quite wonky but they all make the most delightful hollyhock fairies.

 I think I may need face drawing lessons.

 It's easy to walk in to the Garden Centre (Green Door...marvellous place!) & see everything flourishing & vibrant & fabulous & feel discouraged that at home it's all flagging, messy & pooped

 and that the snails have crept out night after night & munched through the middle of your petunias,

 that even though you followed the instructions for pruning hydrangeas to the letter they are so late & lanky & are being very sparing with their flowers, like there's a shortage.

 Sometimes life just feels like the paint spilled in the middle of the plan.

 But then you turn around & look again & there...right there in front of you is the most stunning fragrant beauty that you'd forgotten you even planted & you inhale the heady fragrance & wonder whoever chose the name Heart Broken?

Outside the kitchen window high up in the neighbours elm tree we realise that the tuis have built a nest....right here in town! The tree should have been a golden elm but part of it reverted & got taller & taller & made suckers that come up through our garden...yet, had it not, the tuis wouldn't have built 

right there for us to watch them & hear them feeding their babies.

But even in the beautiful & happy-go-lucky world of the tui things go wonky. This wee one arrived on to the middle of the lawn. early one morning  The parents were extraordinary & we all looked out for him for a week until one day it all became too much, his wing was damaged & he'd never fly. Margaret found him last week under the fig tree, dead but unharmed. So....we rang Anna & she came & collected his wee body & will use the rarely found & beautiful feathers in her flax weaving.

And so...having "got to the bottom of things" in me, it was interesting to notice as I drive past every week the old house, the funny little place where we lived when I was little...where I fell madly in love with feijoas, made my first attempt at concocting perfume, got a little potato stuck up my nose & had to be carted off by flustered parents to see Dr Earle to have it removed, 

where we lived when I first started school & where my best friend Wendy lived just down the road (still a bestie after 53 years!) was empty & being prepared to be removed. 

Just the right time to say goodbye to the past.
Peace.

Everything seems overwhelming in the sweltering heat of summer & we wonder how we normally manage to do life & feel a lot less prickly. Best idea is to plan an hour or two at the river & revive,

however, upon arrival the river banks were busy, someone was in "our" spot, another crowd had their builder's boom box up full bore tuned to the radio & there was rubbish all over the show so...we had a little paddle & a wander round & found another little shady spot to picnic that was quite perfect & very soon the noisy one drove off on his way,

leaving us to gently descend in to peace & tranquility.

Life is just about the moments.
So here's to hettie brown & Jeff Brown (entirely coincidental!) & Pollyanna...to the wonky ones, the cheerful ones, the kindly ones, the ones still getting-to-the-bottom-of-things, to fairies' feet & you.
Much love,
Catherine x0x0x