It has to do with moderation, but it’s so much more than that.
Last year was one of extremes — weather, politics, news and for me, home environments. (I moved from incredibly dry California to verdant and perpetually damp western Washington state.) So I could do with a bit of moderation in the coming year. Which is why I’ve found the Swedish concept of lagom so appealing — and others have too. (With no fewer than eight books on the subject, it’s clear this is a trend.)
To learn more about it, I spoke with lagom expert Anna Brones, an author whose recently published book, “Live Lagom: Balanced Living, the Swedish Way,” serves as a guide to this way of thinking. Some say lagom translates to the English word “moderation,” but it’s a little more holistic than that, much in the same way hygge means much more than “cozy”.
The simplest definition of the term, according to Brones’ book, is “… just right. Not too much, not too little,” and it’s “… a thread that ties many parts of Swedish society together, the cornerstone of personal behavior, design ethos, and community.” She explains that in more detail in the video below:
Lagom:Just enough (2 min)