There's nothing original about a liberal claiming that Scandinavia is the promised land of happiness, productivity and a harmonious society, so I'm well aware that I'm not exactly cracking new territory here. But just for kicks, let's take a quick little journey through some of the best aspects.
My favorite parts? The commitment to work-life balance, an appreciation of the great outdoors, and the general agreement to appreciate each season as it comes instead of spending six months of the year whining. Overall, it's that sense of balance that there's a time for summer and a time for winter, a time for light and a time for dark, and you can take yourself seriously at the office while still maintaining a totally fulfilling personal life.
My love really took shape during a college class called Society in the Arctic, in which we each undertook an exhaustive research paper about one specific year round inhabited town north of the Arctic Circle. I selected the town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard, an island off the coast of Norway, mainly due to the absurdly large population on polar bears. The class was amazing and introduced me to the demographic, geographical and societal difficulties of these isolated communities.
They choose to embrace those Polar Nights when the sun never rises, or in more Southern locales when you may only get a handful of daylight hours each day. Making the best of what is around you and finding the beauty in it is such a smarter goal for your mental health than constantly waiting for something better to come along. It's the contrast between working a job you hate while dreaming of vacation versus making a life that you don't need to escape from with your allotted two weeks.
One visiting author's experience with the Polar Night in Tromso, and this Quartz article which discusses the concept of hygge.
"There’s no direct English translation for hygge, but the word evokes both coziness and togetherness. “It’s not just cozy with a blanket and a glass of wine,” Kurtz tells Quartz. “It’s also interpersonally cozy—so having a few people with you talking about issues and things you care deeply about. Having some candles lit, maybe a nice warm drink in your hand. Feeling safe and content.”
And about those warm drinks in hand? They really do drink more coffee per capita than anywhere else in the world as established in This Atlantic Round-Up by Nation.
Now let's talk about the trivial little stuff that makes me think Scandi! There's my weird and unnecessary love for huskies, which always makes me think of sled dogs racing through the tundra, which then makes me think of the Golden Compass move. Note, it's not really necessary to connect all fluffy working dogs to the Arctic, but I can't control my mental associations.
I think of Vikings and I think of monuments that have been hanging out for centuries upon centuries. I like the beauty in starkness and simplicity. Scandinavian style dovetails very nicely with minimalism.
 |
| Grundtvigs Church in Copenhagen, Denmark |
The use of white to reflect the minimal sunlight, and the visual warmth provided by thick plush textures and rough wood are hallmarks of Scandi style. They can also balance that white with playful and colorful details.
There's been a lot of interest in the past few years in the Scandinavian Experiment and in taking a look at nations that do things so profoundly differently than we do here in the US, but on so many metrics have much better results. There's a nice batch of books out recently that I'm waiting to get my hands on including:
How about you? Are you Scandi obsessed, too?
No comments:
Post a Comment