2016 was all about ‘Hygge’ – the Danish trend for taking genuine pleasure in the cosiness of winter.
Pronounced ‘hoo-ga,’ the idea took off outside of Denmark, with many striving to create the cosy, warm atmosphere that promised to make even the chilliest of winters enjoyable.
And while cosy socks and candles are all well and good, the new Scandi trend on everyone’s lips comes from our friends in Norway.
The Norwegian word ‘friluftsliv’ literally translated means ‘fresh air life.’
Where Hygge concentrates on cosiness, nesting and human relationships, friluftsliv is all about our own interactions with nature.
Pronounced ‘free-loofts-liv,’ this word first appeared in a poem by renowned Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
The poem follows a character who needs solitude in nature to clarify his thoughts about the future – a sentiment many can probably identify with.
It’s all about getting off the grid to help clear your head, reconnect with the world, and collect your thoughts. It’s that feeling when you drive out of the city and see wide open pastures, pitch a tent and are alone with just the sound of the birds.
In a documentary on the subject, produced by Charlotte Workman, her interviewee describes friluftsliv as more like a ‘philosophy’ than anything else.
“It’s about being outside…you go to a lake and you sit there fishing, under the midnight sun, just being present, that’s friluftsliv,” he explains.
And while us Kiwis are pretty passionate about our wide open spaces, Norway has it written in law that man has “freedom to roam” in nature.
This idea is taken so seriously that people are even allowed to camp on private property, so long as they stay 150 metres from any building and are well-behaved.
This law, along with the idea of friluftsliv, encourages Norwegians to live an outdoor life – and puts an emphasis on it in their culture.
And now people from across the world are starting to cotton on to the Norwegian trend – citing its benefits for both young and old.
Watch the short documentary above for more.
