I know November isn’t everyone’s favourite month. The clocks have changed. It’s getting dark ridiculously early and the weather can be questionable. Summer feels like a very distant memory and Christmas is close enough to be appearing everywhere, but not quite close enough to properly start celebrating.
But actually, I think there’s something quite lovely about November and perhaps we should stop treating it purely as the month we have to get through before December arrives.
November gives us permission to get cosy.
There’s something about this time of year that makes staying at home feel like an actual plan.
Not a lack of a plan – An evening on the sofa when it’s pouring with rain outside suddenly feels like an excellent life choice. The lamps go on earlier, the blankets come out, dinner gets warmer, tea somehow becomes even more important and going to bed slightly earlier feels entirely reasonable because, frankly, it’s been dark for approximately seven hours already.
I’m quite happy with all of this.
Perhaps the Danes are onto something?
This is where the idea of Hygge comes in, something that I absolutely LOVE.
It’s a Danish concept that’s often translated as cosiness, although it’s really a little broader than that.
It’s about creating a feeling of warmth, comfort and enjoyment from simple things.
Unfortunately, like many perfectly sensible ideas, we’ve managed to turn Hygge into something you can apparently buy – candles, throws, special mugs and probably some very expensive socks but you don’t actually need to buy anything to make life feel cosier.
It might be dinner with friends at home rather than going somewhere fancy or a Sunday afternoon watching a film.
It could be going to the pub and finding a table near the fire or making something you haven’t cooked for ages.
It’s reading a book. Putting your pyjamas on at an hour you wouldn’t publicly admit to in July.
Simple things.
There are things we can enjoy so much more this time of year.
I think we’re very good at looking forward to the next season.
In winter, we want spring. By February we’re desperate for lighter evenings. Then we’re waiting for summer and before we know it, we’re talking about autumn again.
But there are things about the darker months that are genuinely lovely precisely because we don’t have them all year.
- Coming home to a warm house when it’s cold outside.
- Soup actually feeling like a proper meal.
- Walking on a crisp, bright morning.
- Sunday roasts.
- Fires.
- Big jumpers.
- That first cup of tea when you’ve come in from the cold.
Even walking Barney feels different at this time of year. There are fewer people around, the air feels different and coming home afterwards is part of the pleasure (although I’m not entirely sure Barney shares my appreciation of Hygge when the rain is coming in sideways.)
We don’t have to pretend to love all of it.
Obviously, embracing November doesn’t mean pretending that everything about it is wonderful.
Nobody needs to be grateful for horizontal rain and getting up when it’s still dark can be grim.
Walking across a car park in freezing rain isn’t improved by thinking positively about it and there will be days when we’d all quite happily swap November for a warm afternoon in June.
That’s fine.
This isn’t about forcing ourselves to love something we don’t. It’s simply about noticing that there are good bits too.
Maybe November doesn’t need to be dreaded?
Perhaps that’s what I like about the whole idea of Hygge.
It’s not really about doing very much. It’s about enjoying what is already there.
It’s small pleasures that aren’t particularly impressive and probably aren’t worth photographing but November can be a good month for those things. So, before December arrives with all its sparkle, celebrations, plans and general busyness,
