To be enthusiastic is to show “intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.” In the original Greek, it mean to be inspired or possessed by a God and was used as an insult to describe excessive religious zeal. I’m glad it got taken over and adapted. Enthusiasm, and the quality of being enthusiastic, is something I very much enjoy. To be tepid or half-hearted about … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Enthusiasm
Have you ever been in a situation where everything is going to pot, there’s not a blind thing you can do about it, and you might as well just accept the case? The grace that you accept that with, and the smoothness with which you face your fate is serenity. It is “the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.” Now, in my youth, serenity … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Serenity
I think I can bear many things in life, like feeling hungry, having nothing to read, boredom or even losing connectivity on my 4g phone (hello O2!) but I cannot abide feeling cold. Not bitterly cold. Not that bone-chilling, been outside too long with the wrong clothing, my toes are no longer responding, my hands are chilled and I am shivering kind of cold. I … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Warmth
Contentment: it’s a soft little word, and sometimes gets looked down on in the face of its bigger, brasher cousin Happiness. After all, contentment isn’t enshrined as a fundamental human right the same as the pursuit of happiness is. Yet, I love contentment all the more. I want to be content more than I want to be happy. Don’t get me wrong, the days that … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Contentment
Is there any mess more glorious than the floor of a family home on Christmas Day morning? Andy Rooney, of whom I know nothing more than this quote, said it was “One of the most glorious messes in the world,” before adding, “Don’t clean it up too quickly.” Indeed, the paper displayed after every little gift has been opened, oohed and aahed over and placed … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Gifts
Christmas is the season for sweetness, in food at least. Could you imagine a season without mince pies, cake, cookies, candy canes, chocolates or any one of the hundred other sugar-filled treats that have become associated with Christmas? Even the Danes, a healthy bunch most of the year, celebrate Christmas with a marzipan pig and potatoes cooked in sugar (yes, seriously). Sweetness is a pleasurable … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Sweetness
When I look back at my childhood Christmases, the one facial expression I remember most often is a smile. The smile on my brother’s face as he opened up that much-longed-for LP, the smile on my Nan’s voice as she opened up a cheap, tacky present carefully chosen and paid for by a grandchild, the smile on everybody’s face as we ate a carefully prepared … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Smiles
I love the Hygge Nook. If you’re into positive, calm, welcoming, friendly places on the internet, you could do worse than join it, even if you have to join Facebook for the purpose. It is one of the kindest, most inspiring places I know, so much so that I have the link straight to it on my home page. I no longer need to see … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: The 24 words of Christmas.
How to Hygge the British Way 