As the Programs Producer, Karin works with several teams at MTC including Literary, Education and Artistic on creating offerings and opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists to engage with the Company. These include NEXT STAGE, First Peoples Young Artists Program and Women in Theatre.
Five minutes ago it was March and now I’m thinking about Christmas. To be fair I often think about Christmas and would happily watch those terrible Yuletide movies year ‘round. But in the less festive COVID era, the months are skidding by untouched it seems. Life seems breathtakingly large at the moment so I’m going to share my recommendations for the little things.
GET HYGGE WITH IT
Described as the Danish art of getting ‘cosy’, hygge can be different things for different people. I’ve only visited a couple of Scandi destinations but can confirm they seem an attractive people with excellent ideas about education and community. So whatever they’re doing it’s probably something we could all find helpful.
LIGHT A CANDLE
Scent is a powerful thing and can transform a space – ideal when you need to switch from ‘home office’ to ‘home’. My favourites are the Wildfolk Woodlands and Nook & Burrow’s Reading by the Fire.
MAKE A CUP OF TEA
A good cuppa can be more than just hydration. A healing balm. A conversation starter. Work avoidance. I won’t even get into the whole milk goes in first thing (it does) but I relish the ritual of making a tea in the morning and watching the world go by out the window. Go for PG Tips or Yorkshire Blend for a proper builder’s brew. Occasionally add scones.
READ
I’ve been devouring books (by lamplight – very hygge) and leaning towards period novels like Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life that contain no new technology and plenty of things happening at a slower pace. Or try the book on living Danishly, Meik Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge, the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. Yes that’s a thing.
WATCH
Some of my top picks for donning your fluffy socks and settling in: Melissa McCarthy movies like Spy, sweet Brit comedy This Country on Stan/ABC iView or learning a new language through reading subtitles of Scandi Noir such as The Bridge on Stan.
DAYDREAM
This could be done via journaling (to look back on later, or to burn in a very hygge fire) or searching for cottages to buy in the Cotswolds (an actual thing I do when I get stressed). Or a bit of forest bathing, which for me at present is a bracing walk in the neighbourhood, smelling the mulchy autumn leaves and fireplace wood smoke.
Published on 15 June 2020
