Hygge is a Danish way of life that’s all about embracing coziness, contentment, and meaningful connection. How beautiful is that?!
So, as we enter the season of all things cozy, we brought in the Hygge Master herself! Meet Kim Morrison, founder of The Hygge Gathering – a space and lifestyle that invites us to embrace the ordinary, enjoy each day, and be in the moment.
In today’s interview, Kim talks about practical ways we can create an intentional gathering space in our homes so we can enjoy meaningful connection with others. She also shares about the importance of releasing the expectation of perfection in hosting and encourages us to be spontaneous in our invitations.
“It’s about embracing coziness, contentment, and meaningful connection. It’s savoring the simple everyday ordinary parts of life and belonging to the moment and each other. “ – Kim Morrison
You can connect with Kim here:
Tell us about your journey in discovering hygge.
After the birth of my second son, I went through a really hard time of postpartum depression, which became postpartum psychosis, and I was hospitalized. And they had a special unit just for the treatment of postpartum depression. And the thing I learned from that experience of being hospitalized, is that when you’re released, you’re not better. You’re stable enough to go home.
And that journey became the starting ground for my own experience of hearing and how I could approach motherhood with more intentionality. And around the time of my son’s second birthday, which is technically the end of the postpartum period, was when I started to learn about hygge. And it felt like this deep connection in my soul – this is what I want to do for myself and what I want to do for my family – a home of harmony and togetherness that feels like a sanctuary.
We’re entering the fall season, which evokes all things cozy. But hygge is not just an aesthetic, right? So, what is hygge?
Hygge is a Danish way of life. It’s about embracing coziness, contentment, and meaningful connection. It’s savoring the simple everyday parts of life and belonging to the moment and to each other. It’s like cozy mindfulness for the soul.
And belonging to the moment is something personal. I started practicing it in my own life and then I’m able to share it with my children and others. It overlaps with mindfulness because it’s about belonging to the moment. It takes on this invitation that I get to be invited to the moment.
Hygge seems to relieve so much of the pressure of being the perfect hostess with the perfect home. It’s so awesome because I think that expectation can often be a barrier to gathering.
In wanting my home to be a place of gathering, I also didn’t want to be traumatic to my children! We’ve all seen the videos and memes of mom running around like crazy. I want my home to be neat and welcoming, but also am not worried if you come over and there are dishes in my sink and my bathroom isn’t perfectly wiped down. It’s ok!
Think about when you or I am a guest in someone’s house. We’re not going over there to pick their house apart! We’re just happy to be there. So give that to ourselves and letting go of the expectation of perfection in hosting and gathering. Hygge and inviting hygge and gathering into your homes is not about entertaining. It’s about gathering.
What are some practical ways we begin integrating hygge into our homes and families, without all this pressure to get it all perfect?
Something I talk about is just inviting at the last minute. Being spontaneous in your invitation. You find that as you get on this path of having a family and all the responsibilities that come along with it, the joke is that we’ll schedule things months away.
I want to flip that and say, put the invitation out. It can even be at the last minute. Letting people know you made extra food for dinner – why don’t you guys just pop on over?! It’s putting the invitation out there with no expectation. That can lead to some of the closest relationships when you do that because it’s finding togetherness with people who have space in their lives for it and that will naturally happen if you’re putting the invitation out there.
And whoever needs to respond and be there will respond and be there! You can always invite and hold loosely to the response you get. There’s an air of playfulness to it.
Another important aspect is creating a margin in our life, so we have moments for spontaneous gatherings and connection. It looks countercultural – it means saying no sometimes. Weighing things and asking – is this aligned to what our overall values are as a family? And we really value having margin in our schedule. It’s about leaving time for us.
It’s not just making time in our schedules. It can flow over to other parts of our lives. And having margin leaves time for us to respond to our kids in the way we desire, in a way that’s more thoughtful, that kinder, that gentler, and where I’m able to teach them. It’s maybe not the place where everyone else is going. Rather, it’s about honoring our pace.
I’ve heard you share that one way we can incorporate hygge is in establishing family traditions. I love traditions and am always brainstorming fun, new memories we can create as a family. Can you share how hygge can help shape family time and some of your favorite traditions or routines?
In our own family, we have daily moments of togetherness. For example, at carpooling, I don’t ask my kids how their day was. I ask them, “what was your favorite thing that happened today?” They just know that’s going to be the question.
Daily I want to see that I’m connecting with them. Another special place is our nighttime chats. It’s like pillow talk for kids! It’s especially important for my youngest. He really hungers for that connection at the end of the day. For him, it’s sharing his hopes and dreams with me.
Weekly, we do a family movie night on Fridays. During the holiday season, we get really intentional about it and watch Christmas movies. It’s getting to share part of my childhood with my children. And they might even get to eat down in the basement, which is really exciting for them.
Seasonally, we have traditions. We do the state fair. In the spring, we garden together. And that’s grown as they’ve grown and now, we have two square vegetable beds. It’s something we get to do together. How can we build excitement and expectation for each season? I really look forward to this with them. I hope these are traditions we can come back to as they grow, and their world expands. And that this becomes their story of home and tradition.
And in all of this, I know I need to prime myself for two expectations. First, it’s probably going to take longer. And second, it’s probably going to be messier than if I had just done it myself. But these are sweet moments of togetherness.
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