Five Minutes Peace.

Don’t we all benefit from that? And I find my peace today in the garden.

When I got home from work, Second Son had decided that the state of our garden was unacceptable. He’d mowed, he’d broken up an old and knackered table for firewood and he’d brushed up leaves off the patio.

I reaped the benefit with nearly an hour of peaceful crocheting and listening to Hagitude on Audible. I’m making a real Old Witch shawl for the winter: large, warm and solid rather than lacy. This is about half way through, so it really will wrap twice around me when I’m done. I had a cake of Stylecraft Batik Winter Wonderland left over after making a poncho earlier this year, so I’m using that along with another one I’ve bought. The pattern is from a site called Sewrella and is named The Wishing Well Crochet Wrap. It’s a lovely and quick make, with three rows of treble stitch and then a row of holes. Really useful meditative crochet.

And as I crocheted and listened to Sharon Blackie reading her own words, passages stood out to me:

“Its invitation to us isn’t that we should try to revert to that childhood, or allow ourselves to be enticed into the frivolous worlds of fantasy and escapism — but rather to reclaim the old, potent sense of magic in the everyday, and reclothe it in all the deep, embodied and grounded wisdom we’ve accrued along the way. It invites us at the same time to imagine the female creative power that, for many of us, has formerly manifested itself in having children, and encourages us to channel that creativity elsewhere.”

Magic every day? I’m on for a bit of that. And creativity was my word last year. Very suitable. Menopause as an alchemical transformation into a creative and powerful elder woman? Yes. Yes, please.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. Lent is a season of rituals and resets. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

And if you, like me, like to plan ahead, then my Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is the basic, all round Christmas hygge book, Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas is about taking time to look after yourself at the busiest season of all and is only available in ebook, while Celebrating a Contagious Christmas was my answer to Christmas in Lockdowns in 2020 but might (sadly) prove useful for a few more years to come. I’m itching to write a new Christmas book, on simplicity, frugality, minimalism and making the meaning of your Christmas more significant, but time, time, time…

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

I cannot credit the person who took the image of leaves on water that I’m using between the writing and the shameless promotion of my own books on the blog, because it’s a file I downloaded two years ago from a copyright free picture site I can’t even remember the name of. That’s awful, isn’t it? What site did I used to use? And the header is another shot of my crochet shawl, garden in the background. Small things, simple pleasures, self care for a frazzled mind.