I don’t know about you but the weeks following the holiday come-down, when the cold and damp seem to run bone-deep and the days are still short under a distant sun, really weigh on my soul sometimes. Winter is in full swing, and the hustle and glow of the holidays seems a far off memory. 

Yet, in the midst of the chill and weak light, there is a beautiful opportunity to experience the joy of intimacy.

You see, joy doesn’t need sunshine and 70 degrees. Sometimes all it takes is a cozy blanket and a tuned-in heart.

How Hygge Creates Space for Joy to Bloom

You may remember the hygge design trend that swept through the nation about a decade ago. Hygge (hyoo-guh) is a Danish philosophy that focuses its energy on creating a warm, inviting environment that cultivates contentment and joy. 

The Danes experience a more pronounced winter dark period than we do here in the Raleigh area, with the sun setting as early as 3:30pm in the depths of the season. In response, they set about the business of combatting the dark and cold with warmth and light. They make simple design choices that center around coziness and contentment. 

In that same spirit, we battle back against winter doldrums with our own hygge rituals. This could look like wrapping in a chunky wool blanket while reading a book, staring into a roaring fireplace and letting the mind wander, or watching the swirling steam from a favorite mug filled with coffee or tea. For families, it tends to look like piled up cuddles on the couch, cocoa after an outdoor excursion, and little fingers tracing patterns on steamed windows. 

The linchpin of this practice, what really allows it to bring joy, is to open your eyes to the little sweetnesses and comforts all around you and allow contentment to swell them in your heart. As you develop this practice, you may also notice the added warmth of family in the bleak mid-winter. 

Family Photojournalism Captures and Augments Hygge

For families, the darker months can seem endless at times. Feeling cramped and confined inside is enough to make anyone a little stir crazy. 

But, for families that find ways to incorporate hygge and to lean into the coziness this season can bring, there are so many beautiful opportunities to create photographs that highlight that cozy comfort and warmth. 

Documentary family photography is about searching out the soul of your family by the light of the softly glowing lamp on the side table as you all sit together with a book. It’s observing the way your kids play with one another in a pile of toys as they let their imaginations take them far beyond the confines of the walls of your home. Unlike anything else, family photojournalism creates pictures that bottle up the feeling of hygge, contentment, warmth and intimate joy of your family. 

What better way to continue the cultivation of hygge in the wilds of winter than to look back on the memories forged by firelight? This is precisely the mentality I bring when I walk into your home, whether in Raleigh or Apex, Cary or Holly Springs. My focus is on creating photographs for you that crystalize the little sweetnesses and draw your eye even more towards them; cultivating joy that withstands even the grayest winter days. 

A Few Practical Ideas for Cultivating Hygge This Winter

If you are struggling with how to bring the practice of hygge into your home, I have a few tried and true suggestions. 

1. Enjoy a warm cup of your favorite beverage. 

One of the coziest and simplest things you can do is to make a steaming cup of coffee, tea, mulled cider, or even mulled wine. Bonus points if the brewing method is slow. As the kettle boils, allow your ears to tune into the sound as it heats and begins to whistle its merry tune. Watch the subtle color shifts as your coffee drips into the pot. Allow the wisps of steam to dance before your eyes and marvel at how none curl the exact same way. 

You can bring the kids in on this too! Hot cocoa with marshmallows or a favorite decaf tea. Have them tell a story about the steam curl characters. 

For those that are local to Raleigh, I would 10/10 recommend Cultivate Coffee Roasters in Fuquay-Varina for a bag of incredible and locally roasted coffee beans.

2. Light and warm your space with fire when possible.

There is something entirely magical about a dancing flame. Be it the warm glow radiating from your hearth or a single flickering candle. This is a warmth and glow that is unreplicable and it is felt at the soul-level. Not to mention, all your documentary family photos will have a beautiful gleam. 

3. Use your hands to create. 

In the naturally and necessarily slowed rhythms of life that winter brings, use your hands to create something. Crochet a new chunky blanket for snuggling in. Trust me, you won’t want to when it’s hot out again. Knead homemade dough until it’s perfect for a loaf of bread or making your own pasta (something I’m giving the old college try to this year!). 

Whatever you create, invite your kids into it with you. Painting, writing, building, baking. Any of it. All of it. Let their little hands work alongside yours and take a moment to delight in the wonder and art of creating. 

Don’t let the gray days of bleak mid-winter frost over your heart. Embrace coziness and warmth and bring the Danish art of hygge to bear on your life. The cultivated contentment and joy that follows is an excellent way to enjoy the colder, darker months instead of wishing them away for Spring and Summer. 

And remember that you can preserve these feelings and add them to your hygge arsenal for next year with a documentary family photography session illuminated by the warmth you create and enjoy with those you love best.