'The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection' (2017)

Louisa Thomsen Brits, The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection (New York: Plume, 2017; first published in the UK in 2016). Photography by Susan Bell.

"Hygge (pronounced 'hoo-gah') is a quality of presence and an experience of belonging and togetherness. It is a feeling of being warm, safe, comforted, and sheltered. . ." Page [7]. (In the UK version, the pronunciation is rendered "HYOO-guh"). 

The author may not have had this example in mind, but consider Tony Soprano, main character from The Sopranos. To ease the stress that comes with being a mob boss, he spends quality time with a favored goomar, enjoys a bottle of wine, savors a good meal. One of his favorite lines is, "Take it easy." And he's not even Danish!

Most of the ideas and examples in The Book of Hygge are low-key. They are the opposite of feeling harried. rushed, annoyed, irritated, high-strung, anxious and alienated. 

Of anti-hygge matters, consider advertisements: they play on fears or fantasies, no different than the manipulative methods of snake oil salesmanship of bygone days. Treat an ailment -- that may not even really exist -- with miracle potions. Take a pill to ease the constipation caused by your opioid addiction! Drive this shiny car or rugged truck and feel both dominant and free. Speed through a pristine wilderness and become one with nature, even as you trample it under your wheels.  See the big sporting event where one team will flatten another and make you feel tribalized. Buy insurance! Invest! Go to an artificial seaside resort and be treated like royalty, even if you are a serf. Go on a cruise. Rush to the drive-thru of a hundred fast-food franchises. And whatever you do, hurry! Hurry! Limited time only! Coupons! Discounts! Hurry! Limited quantities! Going out of business sale!  Give money! Hurry! Hurry! Before it's "too late!"

Hygge is the opposite of everything in the previous paragraph. It is neither fear nor fantasy, but rather much simpler. 

The Book of Hygge is peppered with illustrative quotations. I like this one in particular, from William Morris, an influential 19th century Arts & Crafts proponent:  "The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."  (Page 84). That's it! There's nothing more deadening than lack of interest, indifference, and lack of curiosity.

Hyggering is a groovy way of grokking. With Germans, think Gemütlichkeit. In French, there's the more all-encompassing concept of joie de vivre.  
   
The Book of Hygge gives some flavor of this ideal Danish way of life, and certainly it's easy to see how different the Danish approach is from idealized American materialism and "freedom."  Take care of each other. Quality over quantity. "Less is more" (from Robert Browning, page 152, but also an architectural philosophy developed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).  

Another quip from William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." (Page 157). I'm down with that. This syncs well with the principles of feng shui and with Marie Kondo's KonMari Method of asking of all material things: "Does this spark joy?"  If not, forget-about-it. 

Today's Rune: Fertility. 

The Electronic Envelope

In working at a library with people whose ages range across a span of sixty plus years and whose experiences derive from multiple cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and geographical locations, it's clear that we utilize, to varying degrees, layers of technology, some ancient, some new, some borrowed, some blue. Yet we all are, as much or more than anyone in the greater global society, living within the aura of an electronic envelope, as Marshall McLuhan prophetically observed in the 1960s and 1970s. 

It's also clear, from direct observation, that many, perhaps most people, shuffling or stumbling around as they stare into flickering mobile devices virtually everywhere they go and regardless of what else they may be hoping to achieve (indeed, if they are hoping to achieve anything at all), take their present state of consciousness for granted. That is, they are used to it -- rather than fresh to this provisional and incomplete state of their reality, nor are they refreshed by their techno-social links and life-perceptions.

The Electronic Envelope: we are all utilizing some kind of technology, but with different expectations and proficiencies and to wildly and widely varying outlooks.

Some adults still write letters, send cards, email (& doesn't it sound more beautiful in French? Courrier électronique, or courriel?). They make voice phone calls, text. Others just post on social media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, &c. Click "Like" buttons and emoji icons to express our feelings or lack thereof. 

Some even speak with other people in a three dimensional sense, though if you go to an American post office, the chances are greater that you'll be speaking with a postal worker than a fellow customer. 

For purchasing stuff, you can go online, or use an app, or use a magic card, or use a mobile device, or draw cash from a so-called Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), or interact with a human teller, or negotiate, bid and barter. And I know about all of the above because I engage in all of the above. How about you? 

Marshall McLuhan pointed out that it's good for one's sanity -- and autonomy as a person and human being -- to remain vividly aware of the electronic envelope that surrounds us. This is partly what he meant with his various quips, such as "The Medium is the Message." This is how we perceive, or filter, or translate, social life itself. Which means there are also other ways, so let's not confine ourselves, or box ourselves in, from other means of perception. Seems like a good idea, eh? Oy!

The Electronic Envelope. Some things are quaint, obsolete, art objects, or no longer even in operation -- if so, just barely. Of the first three categories, consider the typewriter, the vinyl record, the fountain pen. Of the fourth type, consider the 8-track, Beta videotapes, telegrams, facsimiles (fax machines) and beepers.

I recently asked student workers about voice recognition services. They were aware of these and laid out the following. Are you?

Amazon: Alexa (via Echo)
Apple: Siri (via iPhone, iPad, iPod, &c.)
Windows: Cortana
Google: Google assistant / Google Home
The Internet of Things

Different workers have different preferences and some don't use any at all. 

I also asked about dictation (speech recognition) systems: you dictate or speak and your device "types" or keys out the words into a text document that you can then edit and refine. I remember using a Dictaphone system in the 1990s, for a temp job: this involved a tiny cassette recording of a boss's voice, played back with foot pedals while listening with headphones and word processing my interpretation. I also remember trying an early version of Dragon speech recognition software to mixed results. 

Google Docs has a function if you have a microphone built in your device, or attached. Google Cloud Speech API (application program interface)
Dragon -- multiple versions
Voice Finger (is this a good image?)
Tazti 
E-Speak  

Do you work with or have you tried any of the above? Does any of this "spark joy?" (As Marie Kondo aka KonMari might ask).

When I was working with international documents at Duke University's Perkins Library in the Public Documents and Maps Department, there were a variety of machine translation systems coming out. Now, Google Translate is highly useful for basic translation. But these have a long way to go as far as nuance and slang, &c. Hardly the Universal Translator envisioned on the original Star Trek fifty years ago. 

Do you utilize translation systems?  Why or why not?

Any further thoughts about the Electronic Envelope?

Looking Back but also: Onward!

Today's Rune: Harvest. 

Marie Kondo's 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:' Round Three (Books)

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing translated by Cathy Hirano (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014) / Jinsei Ga Tokimeku Katazuke No Maho (Tokyo: Sunmark Publishing, Inc., 2011) / A mágica da arrumação: A arte japonesa de colocar ordem na sua casa e na sua vida [EBook Kindle] Sextante; Edição: 1 (4 de maio de 2015); Amazon Servicos de Varejo do Brasil Ltda – Português.

Next order of business: books. Doing the KonMari “tidying” method with books is a bit more challenging for me than clothes. 

KonMari’s approach might put the fear of God or worse in most bibliophiles: she’s managed to reduce her personal library of 3D “codex” books to thirty -- yes, thirty -- volumes. To do this with a large collection, one would have to have the gusto of a fire crew right out of Ray Bradbury’s slim 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451. I might have some of that gusto in me, but not for the equivalent of book burning.

Furthermore, logistically it’s more difficult to set up my books in the KonMari way, because I have a considerable number of volumes shelved in an office inside a large library,  plus another considerable number of them at a domicile located miles away. She would have me put all of the personal books under my care into one large pile or ziggurat, and then examine them one by one before carrying out the decision to keep, donate, trade or toss: all in one go. “Does it spark joy?”

So, what I have done so far is this. Books that have physically deteriorated due to acidic paper and the like – and can easily be replaced in e-book or other form – can go. Books that neither “spark joy” nor serve much of any practical purpose can also go.

Here’s an example of a culled book (a scan of its front cover, to be precise): a paperback copy of James Joyce’s Dubliners. Why pulled? It's become a bit dingy, and worse, it's beginning to come apart at the seams; I also happen to have a complete set of Joyce’s works in hardback. I like the crazy green cover, though.

Results to date: 

Office.

Magazines and catalogs discarded or recycled: 13

Books traded in or given away: 23

Compact discs (CDs): traded in, given away or discarded: 22

Home.

Magazines and catalogs discarded or recycled: 7

Books traded in or given away: 11

Compact discs (CDs): traded in, given away or discarded: 5

DVDs traded in, given away or discarded: 10

To sum up, that's 34 books out, a fairly comprehensive reshelving, with 27 CDs, 10 DVDs and 20 magazines and catalogs also moved away. Doesn't seem like much in numbers, but the reality is far more satisfying. It is quite fun to handle and relate to each item, one by one, in a way that results in what feels like a positive psychic energy flow.

Other categories down the line will include: general papers, komono (小物  = little objects, miscellany), and the hardest items of all  -- letters, diaries, photos and the like. Overall, KonMari work is fun, eye-opening and certainly energizing.

Today's Rune: Breakthrough. 

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: Round Two (Clothes)

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing translated by Cathy Hirano (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014)  / Magic Cleaning: Wie richtiges Aufräumen Ihr Leben verändert [lit. "How real tidying changed your life"], (2013).

KonMari categorical method – clothes. All in one go. “Does it spark joy?”  “Express appreciation.”  I gathered all my clothes -- everything except what I was wearing -- and coats -- and piled them on a blanket on the floor. Then I handled every single item and decided one of three ways to go: keep, donate or discard. Everything. What I hauled away:

Sports jackets/suit tops
Donate = 3 (1 tweed)

Sweaters
Donate=1

Button shirts:

Discard = 1

Donate = 5

Sweat tops

Donate = 2

Trousers

Donate = 1

Sweat pants

Donate = 1

T-shirts

Discard = 6

Donate = 26

Gloves

Donate = 1 pair

Knit hat

Donate = 1

Pairs of socks

Discard = 14

Hangers

Mix of donate and discard (broken ones)

Total = 1 sack of discards, 3 sacks of donations

Marie Kondo's Magic Cleaning: Wie Wohnung und Seele aufgeräumt bleiben [lit. "how apartment and soul remain tidy"], (2014).

Closet reorganized -- heavy on left to light on right “like an archer’s aim.” Chest drawers reorganized and folded for optimal display and utility. Storage cabinet ditto. Room for everything, in a civilized fashion. Spare buttons, etc., donated to tailor/seamstress next to dry cleaner. Two ties to dry cleaner. One coat in for repair.

Elapsed time: three hours.

Success: total!

Next category: Books. 

Today's Rune: Gateway. 

Marie Kondo's 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up' (2014): Round One

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing translated by Cathy Hirano (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014) / Jinsei Ga Tokimeku Katazuke No Maho (Tokyo: Sunmark Publishing, Inc., 2011).  

This book isn't about incremental tweaking, one small space at a time.  No way. Bet your bottom dollar -- the revolution is at hand! 

Tidy by category, not location, and all in one go.

After making a great mound on the floor, tidy all of your clothes. Arrange your closets by hanging clothes from heavy on the left to light on the right, aiming high like an archer. Pile all your books together in a pyre. Handle them -- all of them. Keep only those that spark joy. Do this with all of your papers, all of your 小物 (komono: little objects, miscellany) -- pile stuff high and work with your bare hands. Yes!  

Truly an exciting and energetic book interspersed with occasional, pithy humor.

So I'm off to the races, already having completed a couple of pilot projects using the tidy "KonMari method." Will report back on methods and results in the near future. For me, it's highly effective.  Works ideally for all spaces great and small!

Today's Rune: Harvest.