It’s three years almost since I started this little blog: I only aimed to write for one year, to live hyggely and to see what effect it had on me, a weary and worn soul who had escaped from school into an office and was looking at enjoying the little things in life.

It’s been a fantastic three years. I opened a Facebook page, and then The Hygge Nook group, which currently stands at over 14,000 members. It’s still the best place on the internet, and I love it. I’ve written and self-published six books, and I’m working on book seven as we speak (well, not literally, but I will be as soon as this post has gone up). I’ve met people in London, Liverpool and York because we all love to hygge, I’ve so many friends online and beyond who share a love of cosy with me. I’ve written (and stopped writing for) a monthly newsletter, and I still come back to my little blog when I need a moment of peace, contemplation and reflection.

And I have done this without adding ads to the blog, or taking on endorsements for goods, or compromising my belief that hygge cannot be bought, will not be commodified and that the best hygge moments are the small ones that we catch only when we set our lives and spinning plates of business aside and realise that now… this moment… this time…. life is good.

I love the blog too much to close it down, but even I think I need a shake up. A new purpose, a focus for my writing. So, from next week, my little hygge blog will have a new challenge. I aim to live as seasonally as possible to help the planet. Bear with me, while I explain.

We are so used to a 24/7 culture now, that as humans we have forgotten that our lives are built to match the rhythms of the seasons. We can shop 24/7, watch TV 24/7, work 24/7. There’s no ebb and flow in our lives anymore. We don’t work like stink all through August and September to collect the Harvest and then slow down in November and January when the ground is too hard to plant, or the outhouses too cold to craft.

We eat strawberries at Christmas, demand carrots and swede in the summer and apples all year round. Our shopping basket reads like a Geography lesson (and thank goodness that’s possible) but if we truly are facing a climate crisis and need to change our lives to suit, then possibly the airfreight and refrigeration needed to bring those grapes from Peru isn’t carbon neutral…?

And that coffee I enjoy every Friday… well, it’s not that bad, because I drink it in the coffee shop, but the disposable cups that I could use, the plastic straws in the soft drinks, the waste that we create every single day of our lives….

I’m a normal, average human being. I don’t do anything extraordinary (I don’t even fly abroad, haven’t done for a few years) but even I have a carbon footprint that is unsustainable. My personal overshoot day is 6th June. I live the life of 2.3 planets. That’s pure unsustainability. And it’s wrong.

So, this blog is going to watch me change that.

Through careful shopping, efficient use of energy in the home and a focus on the small, free (or cheap) moments of joy available in life, I will improve my ecological footprint AND hygge without losing my sense of humour, preaching, wearing sackcloth or eating lentils all day every day. I will cut my consumerism, trim my excess energy usage and make my life smaller. By September 10th next year, I really don’t want to be responsible for 2.3 planets. I might not make it to just one, but I want to be closer to it than now.

How? I don’t know, you’ll just have to keep watching and reading. One thing’s for certain, coffee better be included. Are you in? How to Hygge Without Costing the Earth. Sounds like a possible book title to me…..

And now a word from our sponsors.….

I don’t monetise my blog. I don’t run adverts, take sponsorship for writing posts or use affiliate links. I want everything I do on this blog and in my hygge life outside to be truthful. If I promote a book it’s because I’ve read it and like it, if I  point out an item it’s because it’s impressed me on its own merits and not because the publicist has talked me into it. It does mean I don’t run giveaways and I’m not chasing followers, but the drawback is that I need to find a way to support myself.

That’s why I write books. My thoughts are that if I ask you to buy a book not only does it support me, and let me keep writing as an independent writer, but you get something back for your bucks. I’ve written several books, some on hygge, some on Christmas. If you like what you read here, or in the Hygge Nook, and you’d like to support a struggling writer, would you please consider buying a book? Ebooks give you the best value, since for 2 or 3 pounds you get the whole content of the book without paying the extra for paper production, but I’d be a pretty poor writer if I didn’t appreciate the beauty of a real book in the hand. If you buy just one book, it all adds up in the end to support me, and I’d be so grateful.

If you already have my books, or just want to support me as an independent writer, you can always just send me the price of a cup of coffee as a friend, to paypal.me/HyggeJem . I tend to use a lot of my spare cash on books that I review for the website, so every penny donated goes towards building my happy hygge life.

My first three books are hygge related, 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way  was my first book, and is available in Paperback and Kindle version. It’s a simple look at ways to feel more hyggely in life and at home even though we’re not Danish and don’t have it in our DNA.

How to Hygge Your Summer, in Paperback and Kindle form, has lots of good ideas for the summer months. I strongly believe that hygge is so much more than throws and warm drinks.

Happier is my fourth book. It’s about how I boost my own happiness levels. It’s full of hints, tips and ideas for you to use and adapt to suit your own situation. It is available in ebook and paperback version from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

I have three Christmas books,

Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas was released in September 2017 and is available again in paperback and ebook version. It looks at keeping the Christmas season warm and cosy, with ideas for activities and routines to keep Christmas happy.

A (Hygge) Christmas Carol is my look at Dickens’ immortal classic and the many lessons we still learn from it today. It contains the full text of the book as well as hyggely thoughts on the story.

Enjoying a Self Care Christmas is only available in ebook version. It’s about keeping Christmas simple enough and healthy enough to keep you sane in the process.

If you buy any of the books through the links on this page, I get a couple of extra pence per copy, in Amazon vouchers which go towards buying more books to review for the blog. I’d really love it if you’d support me monetarily, but I quite understand that cash is tight for many people, and I just love having your support via reading and commenting as well.