I’ve always been a big fan of Swedish design and culture—I love their restrained décor, their use of light and natural materials, their respect for the environment, their healthy lifestyles, their strong sense of equality. So it comes as no surprise that Sweden is also the origin of one of my favorite concepts: lagom. The word has no direct English equivalent, but is perhaps best translated as “just the right amount.”
The lovely thing about lagom is that it’s a desirable state of appropriateness, or enoughness—and has nothing to do with scarcity or deprivation. It’s both the opposite of having too much and too little, and instead a celebration of moderation.
A popular story claims that the word is a contraction of the Viking phrase “laget om,” which specified how much mead one should drink from the horn as it was passed around the table—presumably just enough, so that everyone received their fair share. It’s a wonderful example of the social and economic equality in Swedish society; the country has a remarkably egalitarian income distribution, and one of the world’s lowest levels of poverty.
So how can we incorporate a little lagom into our lives?
* Resist the “too much” of hoarding. As minimalists, we should all be doing this anyway—but even if you’ve found the “perfect” t-shirt or pair of black pants, don’t stock up on half a dozen when one or two will do.
* Resist the “too little” of extremism. Sure, the siren call of 100-item minimalism, or living out of a backpack, can be quite strong; but if it’s not appropriate for your lifestyle or family at this time, it’s not lagom.
* Embrace equality. Our planet’s population is growing, and its resources are limited. When we over-consume, we take more than our fair share—leaving less for other people, and future generations. By limiting our personal consumption (or donating some of our excess wealth or possessions) we can better ensure there’s enough to go around for others.
* Embrace enough. Whether it’s food, wine, hobbies, or material possessions, don’t overindulge. In fact, we tend to savor and appreciate things more when quantities are limited.
I’d love to hear from some of my Swedish readers regarding lagom…as well as other international readers, on whether this wonderful concept has an equivalent in your culture.
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
In my country in old times we had an expression which could be like lagom. When sitting down to meal, people said something approx. like “God, don’t let me eat more than I should or would be appropriate”. Later this was used in other situations as well.
As to the T-shirts: a T-shirt of a perfect quality nowadays is a very rare thing. Most of them lose their quality after the first wash. So if I have been lucky enough to find a very good quality item, I buy five. Steve Jobs and Zuckerberg bought 30, I am not so rich yet :)
:)
Dear Kurkela,
Where are you from?
I like that word too and your point about 100 items or backpack living not being lagom if it doesn’t fit your lifestyle. Minimalism is subjective.
check livinglagom.com :)
Thanks Apple!!!
I was going to point this blog out too, it’s lovely!
oooop, hey Sandra :P
Hey Caitlin! (I didn’t want to leave you hanging.)
Us Finns are quite close to the Swedes both geografically and culturally so everything you said applies to us as well, and actually all Nordic/Scandinavian countries. I like all the good, long lasting, minimal design we have.
You’re right, Annika, I should say I’m a big fan of Nordic/Scandinavian design and culture. I’ve also visited Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, and loved them all! Even gave my daughter a Nordic middle name. :)
My grandfather used the expressions “everything in moderation”, and ” you may want it, but do you need it” a great deal. I used to hear his voice when I was in the shops dithering over whether or not to buy something and his memory won quite often and so the item would go back on the shelf. I think the memory of him saying those things must have saved me a lot of money and prevented me from making unnecessary purchases over the years. The only items where I could over-ride him was when it came to buying shoes.
Social and economic equality is a great thing to strive for. Unfortunately looking out (often “hoarding”) for yourself seems to be more rampant in the US.
My husband and I are currently Peace Corps Volunteers in Paraguay and I’ve come to appreciate how they buy groceries. They don’t stock up. Therefore they don’t need big pantries to store it all. They don’t overindulge when there’s a big sale on the cereal. They buy just what they need. And their generous spirit still means they always have enough to share with a passing by friend.
This post really resonates with me. Enough is a simple, but important concept. Yet it can be really hard to do in real life, especially if you live in America with our culture of excess!
Also, the Scandinavians (I can’t give credit just to the Swedes when the Danes, Norwegians and Finns are awesome too!) do so many of the important things right. I wish we valued their way of life more in the US.
Say Candi, is your blog title perhaps meant to say “My house” in Swedish? If so, it’s “Mitt hus”.
It’s supposed to be Danish, not Swedish, but it’s still wrong. :-) But by the time I realized this it had been wrong for so long I just left it.
It’s Danish, “Mitt hus” would have been Swedish ;-)
I think this is lovely. I am going to go figure out what my “lagom” is and work towards that. I think I became paralyzed with “minimalism” because I cannot live with just a set amout of things. With my famiy being so active now in soccer, camping, hiking, art, that alone demands a closet of items that we do use. So I will go find my lagom and maybe not pressure myself so much. THANKS!!!
I love this concept, and confess I’d never heard of it. Lagom. It’s amazing when you think about it, how it applies to everything.
Thanks, Miss Minimalist, you are an inspiration in so many ways.
Oh, what a wonderful blogpost. Since I am swedish, and I am blogging about having balance in your life i felt really proud to be Swedish :)
Yes, we do have the word lagom, but I can see that here in Sweden a lot of people are embracing the american lifestyle, with more is more and probably have lost the concept of lagom
I posted your wonderful blogpost on my blog and I am looking forward to see what my swedish blogreaders will comment on it ;)
This is such a lovely idea, and I am envious of a culture that has a word for this. But honestly, it doesn’t matter. I can apply it to my own life and that will be enough. Thank you for writing about this!
This post resonated with me as well.
I am a minimalist at heart, but married to a “packrat” from a long line of “packrats”, so our house will never be fully minimalist, no matter how hard I try to keep “stuff” at bay, so I have to resort to a “yours, mine and ours” way of thinking, we both have home offices (yes, in a way too big house but that is a long story and wasn’t for showing of, plus we are planning a move to a different state within the next years anyway, and that house will be smaller!) and our own bathrooms (trust me, after sharing one with him in a tiny apartment, it is to keep me sane!) so luckily most of his piles are contained in his office and a storage room (I could not stop that!). He does neither understand, comprehend or would want to ever subscribe to a minimalist idea. He, and his family, seem to enjoy clutter. My family was never like that, I think all have been borderline minimalists without knowing it.
So, that all being said and speaking solely about the “mine and ours” parts which are either in my areas (home office, closet, bathroom) henever I read some post on here or on similar blogs, I always felt I had “too much”. Going through I could not find even one single item (of mine or “ours”) I did not frequently use or that I could get rid of without sorely regretting it later. I.e. I have only one bag/purse (hate that term) I use everyday, a black messenger/hobo hybrid, quite stylish, which can fold into a tiny cube if ever not used. Other than that I only have some collapible grocery bags (so I don’t always have to use plastic bags when shopping). I have a duffel, which also folds into a small cube when not in use, which I use for my (2 week+ international) travel several times a year. I never check a bag and my carryon is small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of me, yet I never seem to stand out in a bad way when going out with friends in Europe. Both bags are made from super-sturdy, super-lightweigh material. I have only a few items of clothing, I do have more than just one or two pairs of shoes, 10 to be exact, counting boots, flip flops and house slippers. I love scarves, so I have aboout 10 of those. I use little make up, so I only have what I really use and what makes me look and feel prettier, so concealer, tinted moisturizer, lipstick doubling as blush and eye accent if needed and mascara. The rest of my toiletries are a small amount of basics (incl. the Dr. Bronner’s soap in lavender, my favorite scent, which multipurposes). I love to read but all my books are on a Kindle, I have a very old cell phone (almost 10 years now), which I use for emergencies only. Almost all files I store electronically, I hate clutter and love free space but do own a few deco items. List goes on like this for everything else in the house. So always just missed the true minimalist credo by a hair, if I take the blogs I read as means of measure.
While I am far from the average standard of a young woman in the US regarding owning too much of everything, I always felt like I couldn’t quite call myself a minimalist.
I also try to be as “fair” to the environment and other people (around me or in manufacturing countries).
After reading this post, maybe then I am a “lagom-ist” then? ;)
Italians use the expression: quanta bene, which means: that amount which is good or sufficient. It is used, for example in cook book recipes where the amount of an ingredient is based on just enough to make a tasty meal. This is especially true when adding spices and herbs.
I had a grandparent who also said everything in moderation and my mother always quotes do you really need it. Thank you for sharing the concept of lagom, sadly we have no such word in my country (uk) but I wish we did. I think there are many parts of my society who could well to apply it. I am in the middle of striving to find my own lagom, I am reducing the items in our house it has been a long journey I am taking small steps but I have not found the balance that I am looking for just yet.
Great word. Great thoughts. And didn’t Sweden recently receive the “happiest” country title?? The only area I deviate from lagom is when a product I use is on sale, I may stock up because it makes sense (and cents) all around! For example when my favorite beeswax candle company (bluecorn naturals) was selling some of their “seconds” tapers for a great price I bought 8 pairs to use this winter.
Thank you. Lagom is what I strive to find and I’m happy to learn the word for it !
I find that moderation and happy medium is more and more misunderstood, leading to a black-or-white, all-or-nothing, extreme society. Either you run marathon or you don’t exercise. Either you cook gourmet meal everytime or you only eat junk-food. Either you have 100 pair of shoes, or 1.
Having constant access to stories about people who always have done more, run longer, cooked better, lived with less, does not help.
As a result, we often don’t even try to do babysteps. It’s just too uncomfortable to be “in between”, in the grey. Why bother cooking once a week since I won’t equal Martha Steward 24/7 ? Why bother going for a short run since I can’t/don’t want to run ironmen ?
And my pet peeve among my friends : why bother to curve down my consumerism even a little since I’ll never be able to live out of a backpack anyway ?
The pessimist in me fears that this is the ugly side of social media. — creating this competition to post the best experiences makes others feel uncomfortable (unless they’re super confident and comfortable with themselves). Studies show that teenage girls are particularly susceptible to experiencing depression when using Fbook often.
It’s seeing all the ‘haves’ and experiencing the ‘have not’ over and over again. Where’s the benefit in that relationship?
Still, I’m encourage that more and more, we’re beginning to see how digital is effecting our lives in not such great ways, and appear to be reaching toward our own lagom. Hopefully.
I have recently become interested in the tiny house movement and want to build a small 750sf cottage… but I always feel like I “should” go smaller because everyone seems to be building the smaller houses on wheels. Like you said, I’m just not comfortable being in the middle. I am trying to get over this, realize that I am just happier with some elbow room, and I’m not a “worse” minimalist because my house isn’t 89sf.
Lagom. Nice, your description is great. This is exactly the balance that I seek. It sounds a lot like my approach to minimalism, Zen, and to life in general – finding the sweet spot of just enough, being generous, spontanious. It’s all included there.
Dan @ ZenPresence
As a Swedish reader of Miss Minimalist, I’m happy to report that “lagom” is very much a part of everyday life in Sweden.
While I think that we take quite a bit of pride in what Sweden does right, I can also let you know that there is a bit of backlash against the concept of lagom, as it can sometimes be said to touch on “bland”. You don’t want to come across as dull, even if you appreciate moderation.
Tack så mycket för en jättefin webbsida, och varma hälsningar till alla läsare!
(Thanks a lot for a great website, and best wishes to all of its readers)
:)
Thomas
You know I LOVE lagom! :) I think sometimes when we say we want to be minimalists, we are actually trying to live lagom. For some people, it takes a more extreme form; for others less so. It’s a wonderful concept and I love how you’ve applied it in your post!
Sandra, I was just gonna comment that your blog is where I first learned about ‘lagom,’ even considering that Swedish is the other official language here in Finland. I’m not really all that fluent in it, though ;).
Good post, Francine! And even though I like and am intrigued by the whole ‘go as low as you can’ in terms of possessions, I simply love the idea of just enough.
I just started reading your blog today. I had never heard of Lagom before today. I thank Francine for writing about it and I thank you for blogging about it. I look forward to reading more from you. Minimalism isn’t for everyone but I feel lagom is and it’s a great way to teach my kids to be aware of what is enough for them
Living in Japan changed all aspects of our way of living. Back in the U. S. for ten years, we continue to strive for a “wabi- sabi” influence life.
Lagom is very similar .
Us too! We are even thinking of naming our liveaboard sailboat (when we get it) Wabi Sabi. The Japanese way of life felt so right that I felt more at home there than here. I try to follow Wabi Sabi every day.
It was great learning about this term and how you linked it to a sustainable and conscious lifestyle.
Sounds like nok which in Norwegian or Danish means enough.
Haha, nice post. I makes me think differently about lagom. Where I live in Sweden, the word has gotten a bit of negative meaning among some people – like “ew, don’t be so lagom” = boring, holding back, half-hearted, non extravagant.
I like the expressions “enough” or “just right” more.
The word “lagom ” is one of the most useful words in the swedish language! We use it everyday and as my fellow swedes mentioned it´s got a negative meaning in some contexts but overall it´s just a really good word. When you mention that something were “lagom”, the amount of food on a dinner for example, everyone knows that it means that you´re satisfied, that it was enough. So in other words, you don´t have to explane it further:) The swedes are very aware of themselves and how thier lifestyle represent themselves. Having a bright, clean and stylish home is very important to alot of swedes, in a good and bad sense. A big part of the swedes embrace the simple style in their homes, the colour white is used everywhere and it is a symbol of our need for light beacuse of the dark seasons.
Dear Francine,
I love your post. It reminds the reader once again that their path to minimalism is a quest for balance and lagom describes the material/quantitative aspect of it. It is a wonderful concept which, fortunately for them, has become “part of the genome” in Scandinavian countries. Many people on this side of the Pond have been exposed to the Scandinavian design they grew to love, I believe because it is the aesthetical epitome of the very concept of lagom. I am looking forward to activating the promoter for lagom gene here and your post is doing just that.
Looking forward to read more.
I immediately thought of the Living Lagom blog when I read this, which I first came upon through this blog. Perhaps this is where Francine first came across the concept so I was surprised she didn’t mention the Living Lagom blog in this post. Perhaps you could also put links to the source of information for statistics? (” It’s a wonderful example of the social and economic equality in Swedish society; the country has a remarkably egalitarian income distribution, and one of the world’s lowest levels of poverty.”) Just out of interest.
I love Sandra’s blog, but I have to credit reader Val for introducing me to lagom. She commented on my Sophrosyne post back in April 2011, and it’s been in the back of my mind (and on my list of future blog topics) ever since:
“Sounds like the Swedish word lagom. It means something like “enoughness” or balance or the right amount. It’s what I strive for in life. Makes sense for the concept to have synonyms.”
For more info on Swedish society: http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Society/
Thanks Emsi…but lagom isn’t my concept – I’m not even Swedish. I’m happy that more people are learning about lagom since it can be applied by all of us, whereas minimalism sounds a little scary.
And thanks Francine for sharing the lagom love!
While I don’t agree with a forced “share the wealth” lifestyle, I love the concept of lagom in one’s personal life. I also think cutting back on one’s consumption and spending as well as sharing with those who have less is excellent. Great post!
The Norwegian word “nok” is called “nog” in Swedish, and it means “enough”.
The Vikings passing the cup around is a more recent story, but I’ve heard it before.
I’ve always found that weird—lagom means not too much, not too little, while the word in the Viking cup story would be more like “as much as I can get away with while everyone still getting a fair share”.
The real etymology of lagom is more simple—it just started as a (now archaic) form of “lawful”. Another form of the word, “laga”, still means lawful, but “lagom” nowadays just means “not too much, not too little”.
We all wanted a lagom amount of saft (a sugary drink) when we were kids.
A new and interesting term for me. Reading about this made me consider the relationship between being connected with nature and happiness and liberalness and happiness. I like the idea that minimalism is about finding your own level of enoughness.
I know that I definitely have way too much, and is why I am embracing minimalism.
But I have no idea what my Lagom is… I can not foresee a point at which I will stop getting rid of stuff. I am not saying I want to be an extreme minimalist, but I just don’t know my Lagom point.
Hopefully I will recognise it when I get there…
As a Swede I would say that you will know when you hit that “lagom point”. It’s probably the point where you feel like you don’t have so few things that you miss anything or have to sacrifice to stay there, but you also don’t have a bunch of stuff just lying around. Simply put: When you feel content. Not too much and not too little.
I am a Swedish American, and I love my heritage. I love the idea of lagom. Does anyone know why homeschooling is illegal in Sweden?
Yes. Private schooling is also illegal. Everyone is to attend public school (although ‘charter’ schools have become common). Some of the reason is to have everyone at least exposed to the same opportunities to learn. Another reason is that with everyone in the same boat, so to speak, no one deserts the ship leaving those less fortunate stranded. There are many other reasons for this, but those are two.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, about a lot of issues involved in minimalism. We’ve recently reconnected with the couple we met in Florida, who first introduced us to the concept of “minimalism” and unknowingly started us on our journey. They were very excited about the fact that they have had that kind of influence on us and have eagerly taken us under their wing.
Anyway, we always thought we weren’t “minimalist” enough, because we don’t follow a 100 possession, extreme lifestyle. We were surprised that our mentors were very laid back in that respect, focusing more on the spirit of the minimalist lifestyle, rather than the perfectionism that a lot of younger Minimalists have. Our conversations have actually led me to write a similar blog post, about finding ourselves in the “place just right,” mentioned in the folk song “Simple Gifts.”. (I’ll put it up sometime next week…)
Yes, this is definitely true.
My experience of minimalism is just this concept — it’s about what is “just enough” for you. This, of course, caveats around a particular decision to embrace minimalism conceptually, to strive for living with less, as to avoid any slippery slope fallacies (ie, then hoarders can be minimalists because that’s what they decided is ‘just enough’ and where do you draw the line?).
In my wanderings online and finding minimalist community, I see that we are all choosing simplicity and minimalism conceptually, while also manifesting it in diverse ways. I look at my online friend in finland as she begins building her tiny home — with a sauna, which is so culturally appropriate, simple, and beautiful, but here would be a strange, indulgent extravagance at odds with minimalism/simplicity/lagom.
I read of another online friend’s recent move to rid himself of all of his furnishings, opting to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag without a pillow even. It’s a wonderous and bold move. As with my friend in Finland finding her dream, I’m inspired by his explorations of what minimalism means for him, what “just enough” is. And from here, I reflect on the ‘extravagance’ of my bed — which I truly love and use at great length (it’s my favorite place to lounge, sleep, and be on my computer writing comments).
For me, the real excitement of minimalism is the testing. What it is to live without a bed? We did that for 6 weeks (used an air mattress and basic linens and put it away every day. It was loaned to us until we decided whether we wanted a bed or futon. After 6 weeks like that, we were jonesing for the bed — the one we now love so much. :) But it was the process of learning this that was really wonderful.
And I think that’s the point of the challenges: what can I learn?
By not having a bed, I learned that, in fact, I do want a bed. But, I do not need the 5-piece bedroom suite. By minimizing my wardrobe down to 30 items (except coats/outterwear), I discovered that I actually do quite well with less than 30, so as these pass, we’ll see what I need to replace.
Obviously, different people will discover different things in these exercises — and I think that’s all they are. They are not competitions with “winners.” They are exercises for us to learn lagom — what it is ‘just right.’
Jenifer — excellent comment. The fun is in learning what is “just enough” or “essential” for you. Thinking of ideas like 100 things or the 30 item wardrobe as exercises to help you discover how much you really need (or don’t need), rather than rules or prescriptions for the minimalist life, is brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
I am Finnish but you that word often LAGOM is a way of life.
Pia
I was fortunate enough to have spent time in Denmark post-college, staying with host families. The only things we experienced and over-abundance of were laughter and–on this side of my travels–wonderful memories. Oh… and oodles upon oodles of tea light candles to lighten the darker winter months–those fit “lagom,” I think, because all the little lights reflected the happy moods :).
(I have enjoyed this blog for a long-time, but haven’t commented much previously. Thank you for the inspiration you bring to readers!)
I love this post. The concept of lagom embraces minimalism but allows comfort, which is important to me. I am not comfortable with clutter and excess, but I am also not comfortable sleeping wiith nothing but a sleeping bag between me and the cold, hard floor!
What a beautiful concept. Thanks so much for sharing this fresh angle on living moderately!
We have “parahultainen” in Finnish :) It’s a bit of old fashioned word but we use it lots in my family. Maybe it doesn’t sound as sexy as lagom :)
As it is, we just bought a piece of woodsy land and we are building our parahultainen log house of 750 square feet. I wanted to build under 500, but since we also want to entertain and have people stay the night.. well 750 is parahultainen!
Actually, we have another word, which is “sopiva” and it’s used very commonly, I guess like lagom. I kind of overlooked it as it’s so common! But I still really like parahultainen. I’m writing a post about it too, inspired by this one :D
I have a question. Once you declutter and get down to the beautiful and useful stuff, whats next? I feel like i need to start replacing the poor quality ‘useful’ stuff or something.
Maybe i must have more decluttering to do and i just dont see it yet.
I think, decluttering is no neverending story and has no sense in itself. It should free yourself from “stuff” generally. I think, there’s no sense in still continuing to think of whether your stuff is the “best quality” etc. You should move on to different usages of your time, energy and thoughts. Maybe find more time for your family or other people, maybe find time to pursue a creative hobby, make that step to pursue your life dream – whether it be a travel or something to learn or some activity to help improve your home town.
Personally, I try to free myself of the influence of stuff in general. It starts off with reducing my belongings, but goes on with reducing the vanity and pride connected to ownership in general. I don’t need that brand-new well-made quality pot if another old, shabby one I already own is working perfectly well for me. If it doesn’t really improve my life, I don’t need it. To learn this is even harder than to learn let go of things I don’t use. But my ultimate goal is to reach a mind set where I really don’t think about stuff that much at all any more (no matter WHAT these thoughts are like), but find more worthy things to occupy my mind with.
When you have decluttered and have only the beautiful and the useful stuff, then the hardest part begins: to be content and happy with what you have – if you really are, that is. Maybe you still need something more for some reason, at a certain time in your life, for a certain job or sth like that. Decluttering is only the beginning :)
For me, I went into consumables and processes.
For example in terms of consumables, my bathroom has only vinegar, coconut oil, and baking soda for our personal care and cleaning needs. I moved from using toilet paper to family cloth (less waste). In the kitchen, we have basic castile soap, vinegar and baking soda for cleaning, and we use tea towels, wash cloths and napkins for our cleaning/cleanliness whiel eating/prepping needs. We use a broom instead of a vacuum, and use basic cloths for dusting (usually ragged kitchen ones until they die completely).
In terms of processes, i looked at my life and how I wanted to spend my time. I set everything up so that processes were simple. Things are tidied in my house 3x a day, this way everything is ordered (i have a kiddo. so it gets messy!). Before, I was either tidying all the time or giving up and having a freak out several days later. Getting a process of tidying made a huge difference.
We cut our home internet (we don’t have cable, phone, or internet) because we felt we were spending too much time downloading tv shows, when we’d rather be reading, hanging out as a family, or for that matter, sleeping. LOL we boosted our netflix to get more, then cut back again when we realized that we watched about 2 DVDs across a week. For communications, we do it at our offices, where we still provide broadband and phone for our work.
I even went into our work and figured out how to streamline several processes there to decrease clutter and work in the offices, make systems more accessible and easy to understand for clients and coworkers alike, and ultimately ended up cutting several of our bills down by half in most cases!
Truly, there’s a lot of ways to go. And I love tinkering.
As a Swede, I would say lagom is not a solely positive concept, it is also strongly connected to the law of jante, jante-lagen, which has to do with not believing in oneself. An important part of society is not boasting about ones acheivements. So lagom applies not only to not having more than others but also to not being more (successful) than ones peers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante
Being a Swede but spending a lot of time with Koreans “lagom” and “jante-lagen” (as Sara mentioned above) is something we keep coming back to when we are discussing “Swedish mentality”. Lagom is a very good word and concept but it is a word that doesn’t have entirely positive connotations. It can be a bit bland but also “just enough”.
But I suppose lagom is a good word in describing minimalism, having a lagom amount of things. Not too much, but neither too little. Just enough.
I think I see a new rendition of Gangnam Style….Lagom Style! Maybe not…
This is a new concept to me too – glad to learn about it. As with a couple other commenters, I also live in Japan and the efficient lifestyle fits my already minimalist inclinations. I sleep on a futon on the floor (no frame) and am very comfortable. But I’m also a backpacker and have slept many nights on the ground with just a thin air mattress (many of my friends don’t even use that) and am used to it. But I still enjoy a real bed when I get the chance to sleep in one.
I have two chairs and two tables, and I really only need one of each, but they came with the apartment. (This is a link to view my apt: http://wp.me/pR192-LU).
Thanks for an interesting post and I appreciate all the comments too. I love reading all of these perspectives.
Thanks for the praise! it is easy when you are from Sweden to not notice all the good things in your country, so it’s good to be reminded of it.
If anyone wonders the Jante’s law/Jante-lagen is not a proper law but a mindset where you should’t be better than your neighbours (like someone wrote). But of course it, like a lot of things Swedish, are a part of our “culture” but not a big thing for a lot of people.
About lagom, I think a clue is that both your heart and mind should be satisfied (but not your fear or boasting tendencies).
Just as a “fun fact” I can tell that except closest family, nature is the great love for many Swedes.
I would offer that ‘lagom’ as applied to food, drink, or other things is positive. (your favorite pair of jeans fit ‘lagom’ for example)
If ‘lagom’ is applied to people, um, it is not so good. To say your boyfriend or girlfriend is ‘lagom’ is not good.
Would other Swedish speakers agree?
I would agree
“Resist the “too little” of extremism. Sure, the siren call of 100-item minimalism, or living out of a backpack, can be quite strong; but if it’s not appropriate for your lifestyle or family at this time, it’s not lagom.”
This is the best I have read in a long time!
Lagom is a very inspiring concept. I’m happy to read about it here :)
Not swedish but have ancestors that were, I like the concept of Lagom. In regards to quality – yup, on track for the minimalist lifestyle. If I’m only going to have a few necessities, I dont want stuff thats going to wear out or fall apart before its time, leading to another necessary purchase to replace it. Good stuff can cost a bit more at the gate and can save alot of time and money downstream. Which is not to say one should spend more money for a fashion named item or popularity, but quality is practical and far more economical in the long term.