Stain Glass Lens of the 21st Century

Category: Hygge

  • Soaking In The Green

    Soaking In The Green

    Photo by Heather McCarrel, Harrison Park in Owen Sound

    In his book, The Little Book of Lykke, Meik Wiking explains Shinrin-yoku as a means of refreshing our souls and resetting our psychological health by getting a good dose of forest bathing! 

    During these late spring days I highly recommend you try some forest bathing.  All one needs is a good set of walking shoes, perhaps a walking stick and some comfortable clothing (just in case you got the wrong idea!).  Then find a patch of forest to “bathe” in. 

    This kind of bathing involves taking in everything around you with all your senses. Breathing in the fresh clean air, pausing to touch and focus your sights on every detail of the green foliage and at times closing your eyes to listen deeply to the birds, babbling brook or the wind through the leaves.   It is a mindful hike that may take your soul to great heights but you may physically not travel far.  In fact, even if one took a chair out to a group of trees and sat under them breathing in the entire experience, one would be forest bathing. 

    Wiking writes, “There is existing evidence of a positive relationship between happiness and exposure to green or natural environments in our lives.”  

    The forest, one of God’s earliest creations is full of divine mystery and undiscovered healing.  Many have said that they do not need church so long as they can walk in nature; that it is in nature where they meet God.  For me the mystical beauty of the forest is enhanced by my deep reverence for God’s church.  Without one or the other it would be a lopsided life.

    Even Job, despite all his hardships knew where to find comfort, he spoke of the wisdom of nature, “…ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In God’s hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.”(Job 12:8-10)

     So, why not make time this week to go forest bathing either by a mindful walk in the forest or simply by sitting near a garden or a tree and rest long enough to hear God’s small whispers?

    Blessings,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel

    The Photo with today’s Blog I took while forest bathing exactly this time last year at Harrison Park in Owen Sound 

  • The Handbook on Lock Down Living

    The Handbook on Lock Down Living

    In his book, The Little Book of Hygge: the Danish Way to Live Well, Meik Wiking from the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen shares research on what brings enduring happiness.  Interestingly, what he discovers would make the perfect handbook for those of us still living these pandemic days in places of government regulated “stay at home” restrictions. 

    The very word, hygge, according to Wiking, means “as creating a feeling of home.  A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down.”  Wiking has discovered that what brings lasting happiness isn’t material possessions and job promotions but instead the simple things of life that create hygge in our home- lit candles, coffee and dessert, a good book, a quiet nook for reflection, sitting by the window with a good cup of tea watching the weather change, and enjoying a crackling campfire.

    Thankfully, this book came into my possession just as COVID-19 was arriving back in March 2020.  After reading Wiking’s findings I decided to create hygge in my home.  That night at supper I announced we were about to embark on a new experiment.  We were going to purposely cultivate happiness in our home despite the pandemic.  Then immediately after grace was shared, I lit a candle. Every evening since a candle has been lit at our dinner table. Apparently, true hygge cannot be reached without candle light!   

    Also, as instructed by Wiking, I started to brew coffee just before supper with the aroma filling the kitchen. And as instructed we began to have dessert every evening.  It was mandatory for this experiment to be complete, so dessert has been served daily. Sometimes it is just a store-bought cookie or, more recently, a seasonal treat as we make our way around a strawberry rhubarb pie.

    The post-supper coffee has been scaled down to merely a ¾ cup as we discovered our aging bodies do not tolerate caffeine in the evening so well, keeping us up well beyond our usual bedtimes.  However, that small cup of coffee has become a routine part of watching the evening news, a warm comfort as I listen to all the happenings around the world.

    We also created a comfy nook in our home, a hyggekrog.  This simple space was created around our fireplace and as instructed there is no technology. Instead, just comfortable chairs and a table covered with excellent books.  This small space has become big in our home; a place of conversations and quiet reflection. 

    As we are coming to the end of this third and last lock down and nearing the “new beginning” of vaccine living, I have wondered if it is necessary to continue our hygge habits.   One afternoon, while sitting around our hyggekrog, I posed the question and after some conversation it was decided that hygge living is here to stay. These simple every day practices anchor us in the decision to be happy.  Happiness, much like joy, doesn’t happen by accident.  It is a deliberate practice to be happy.

    Besides, I think the best way to praise God is to spend our days happy with what we have been given. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes us happy.”

    Blessings,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel

    The photo was taken by Margaret Jaszowska used with permission/Unsplash