{"id":1184,"date":"2014-01-10T15:56:41","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=1184"},"modified":"2014-01-10T15:56:41","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:56:41","slug":"learning-to-be-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=1184","title":{"rendered":"Learning to be still"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Embracing<\/a>

Embracing a new tradition need not be fancy. Our hodge podge collection worked just fine.<\/p><\/div>\n

Recently, there was a linguistics survey from the New York Times<\/span> floating around that would generate a map of your personal dialect.\u00a0 The questions are based off the Harvard Dialect Survey, which is a linguistics project conducted by two researchers. \u00a0The link for the survey is found at the end of this blog. Friends and family were producing great maps that were spot on for their patterns of speech.<\/p>\n

Sweet tea in hand, I sat down to answer the online questions.\u00a0 At the conclusion, I waited for my own map to be generated.<\/p>\n

For those among us who share with me the experience of never finding their name among personalized merchandise at the store, my experience with creating a personal language map was equally as disappointing. This bust was not for lacking of trying; as I attempted the quiz three more times.\u00a0 All with the same result \u2013 no map was generated.<\/p>\n

I am guessing any person who grew up on military bases, had a college coach or travelling salesman for a parent, or was the child of Bedouins would have the same frustrating experience as I did with that map.\u00a0 Because I have lived in many different regions of the country, my linguistic patterns have become a literal melting pot of the vernacular.<\/p>\n

Now this might really put a damper on some things \u2013 like not having my own map that I can post on Facebook, but in reality, there are some up sides of growing up as a nomad. The biggest benefit is having friends in just about every corner of the world, and never really feeling like a stranger anywhere you travel.\u00a0 The second biggest benefit is adopting the customs of the locals that best suit your heart.<\/p>\n

Ethnically, I like to identify with my Irish roots the most, and we incorporate plenty of Irish traditions in our home.\u00a0 Yet through all my life experiences, we have assimilated traditions that belong to other groups as well.\u00a0 Lefse making from the Norwegians, aebleskivers from the Danes, and meatballs from the Swedes are all regular part of our culinary repertoire.\u00a0 Sauna like the Finns never hurts either.<\/p>\n

In the last week, I read an article passed on from some friends regarding a Danish tradition that we are not only adopting, but are also embracing with full spirits.\u00a0 This new tradition is known as hygge<\/i><\/b>. I highly recommend the article I read as well as the article it is based upon. http:\/\/www.minnpost.com\/arts-culture\/2013\/12\/our-hygge-moment-how-danish-cultural-concept-can-help-cut-through-dark-minnesot<\/a><\/p>\n

Since there is no direct English translation, I love this description by author Helen Dyrbye in Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u201c<Hygge> is the art of creating intimacy: a sense of comradeship, conviviality and contentment rolled into one.\u201d<\/p>\n

That description sounds like bliss to me, which is exactly why we have been practicing hygge in our home for the last week.\u00a0 Sure that isn\u2019t much of a test run, but the spirit of calm in our home since we conscientiously put hygge into practice has been amazing.\u00a0 We lit candles in the early afternoon which seemed to stave off the blues of the setting sun and dark Minnesota winters.\u00a0 All five of us sat in a room together on Sunday afternoon doing quiet things, together and separately. Not since we implemented the required Sunday nap when most everyone was little have we done anything collectively on Sabbath outside of church.<\/p>\n

We embraced the coziness of being together as a family.\u00a0 Last night at supper without being asked, our son lit candles for the table.\u00a0 As I watched him light each one, I knew the Danes were on to something. A custom that all our spirits needed \u2013 not just mine.\u00a0 It truly is the little things that matter.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For those that know my personal quest to reduce chaos in my life, I believe that God wanted me to read that article for real reasons.\u00a0I have been moved to tears \u2013 happy tears \u2013 a few times this week as we have worshipped, fellowshipped, and relaxed together.<\/p>\n

For a girl who still cannot pronounce the words \u201cpen\u201d and \u201cpin\u201d and make them sound different, my pronunciation of hygge probably isn\u2019t better.\u00a0 Somehow I don\u2019t think God (or my family) cares about my diction. We have found the perfect new tradition of \u201clearning to be still\u201d to cultivate and cherish because frankly exhausted, chaotic, and frenetic weren’t working so well.\u00a0 I am just wondering what took us so long to get here.<\/p>\n

Hoping God blesses you with hygge this week!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2013\/12\/20\/sunday-review\/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, there was a linguistics survey from the New York Times floating around that would generate a map of your personal dialect.\u00a0 The questions are based off the Harvard Dialect Survey, which is a linguistics project conducted by two researchers. \u00a0The link for the survey is found at the end of this blog. Friends and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[816,817,818,819,207,820,821,312,822,823,824,825,826],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}