Life, Translated

There is beautiful Danish word that was the subject of a recent article in Time Magazine entitled, “How To Parent Like a Dane.” As the headline suggests, the writer describes a different approach for raising children. The story begins with this premise: “In America we feel that leaving work at 5:00 pm is sneaking out.” That’s true, isn’t it? But not so in in Denmark where, the writer tells us, at precisely 4:00pm, the offices clear out, the workers leave to pick up their children and head home for dinner which is always a family affair. In stark contrast, for many Americans the term nine-to-five no longer translates into our daily lives where ten and twelve-hour workdays are not uncommon. And that’s the point of the article. You see the Danish people have a word for their attitude and approach to the work-life balance which has no direct translation in the English language. The word is Hygge (pronounced hue-gah), which simply means creating a warm…