I like the idea of choosing a word for the year, and having a small nugget to concentrate on when life gets too much, or embracing a concept to build or improve in your life. Last year’s word was Bliss, which turned out to be the compete opposite of how I spent a year which by June had me looking at mild to moderate depression and a need for some serious thinking therapy. I would hate to have full-blown clinical depression: seriously, just those few months of foggy thinking, obsession with certain issues and an inability to find a focus in my life that gave me the support I needed without asking the impossible of me was enough. If you’re low, and positive thinking alone isn’t helping you, go seek professional help from a therapist or GP. I’m hoping 2020 will be better, and so far I feel it is.

When I started thinking about 2020 and what I wanted as my base word, I knew I wanted something to do with strength, authenticity, with putting myself into life without holding back. I got the new and updated Simple Abundance in early December, which I’m working through in mostly-daily chunks, and that is very much about living fully, living as yourself and living in a way that benefits you. It is about recognising what makes your heart sing and then putting your whole heart into life, so the word Wholehearted made its way into my possible list.

Wholehearted leads very soon to Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection, which led me on a blog-reading chain through Project Intention and her fantastic take on what living whole heartedly will be,

In its most positive light, wholeheartedness is living the best possible version of myself, as much as possible. In its most negative, it’s placing myself in as many positions as possible that scare me shitless when all I want to do hide in bed and eat cookies all day instead.

through Jen Carrington and her annual Wholehearted Year mini book, and on to the very action-driven Mindful Ambition post by Patrick Buggy. He not only lists the guideposts, but gives ways we can put them into action in our own lives, by releasing perfectionism, treating ourselves with compassion and embracing our own creativity in life. And finally to Notes from Joana, a twenty-something who I really want to hug and tell her that she will still be fighting for authenticity and to be herself thirty years later but that the journey is more important than any mythical destination. I will be exploring my soul for the rest of my life, and still needing to embrace my imperfections until the day I die because, Goddammit I am a human and imperfection of body, soul and mind is part of the human condition. Good enough will do.

I suppose now is the point where I’m supposed to copy out the guideposts and point out what I’m going to do about them? You’ll have to wait for that post: real life has impacted on my time again, and I have to wander off and do some work. I have plans for an infographic, and perhaps a series of posts on how I see the guideposts and their role in my life at the moment, but for now I’ll just leave quietly and shut the door behind me….

If you’d like to support me….

My new book, Cosy Happy Hygge is available as an ebook or a paperback on Amazon now. As you know, I do the whole kit and caboodle myself, from writing to proofreading to designing and I’m very proud of this one. It’s about using rhythm and ritual to make your life a gentler, kinder place. Writing it has been an important part of my mental health recovery.

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 or some of the items through the links on this page, I get a couple of extra pence per copy, as an Amazon Affiliate, 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.

Truthfully, I’ll probably never make a living as a writer, but I do make a little extra income that gets ploughed back into books and magazines. One obsession feeds the other…