The Cozy Life by Pia Edberg is a book that talks about how we should slow down and enjoy life's little moments through the Danish concept called Hygge. It is interesting to note that the beginning of this book has a very similar thought as the ending of Thoreau's essay. Thoreau talks about how time is fast-moving and shallow towards the end of “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”. He says 

"Time is but the stream I go afishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides sways but eternity remains."

The same message is told by Pia Edberg in different words. She says how time is slipping away through our hands and flies faster as we get older. She asks, 

"Do you ever feel like you're just blindly grinding through the day, and when you finally get a chance to pause, it's only to realize how much time has passed?"

Both of them here point out the fickleness of time and how we chase our life in vain only to look back and see how shallow our lives have been all the way. Thoreau talks about how he wants to live life to its fullest and drink the stream of life deeper. On the other hand, The Cozy Life says how we must stop rushing and enjoy the little moments to experience life at its fullest. Both of them discuss the same thing - living life to its fullest, in different ways.

Another common aspect that both of these texts deal with is simplicity. Thoreau emphasises this by saying one must be able to keep our affairs less and reduce things in proportion. The same is conveyed by Edberg as being less materialistic. She explains how the Danes valued experience and connecting with others as more important than material objects. Though Pia Edberg in her book asks us to enjoy the little things, like a mug of coffee on a cold day, some cosy blankets and furniture, candle lights, etc, she stresses on living life the simple way without luxury.

This might seem contrasting. But when we think deeper, it only makes a subtle difference. When we consider the time in which both these works were written, we can understand that simplicity in contemporary life means to reduce materialism but not completely avoid it, as unlike what Thoreau says, that is impossible in today's world. But the concept they both try to convey is to enjoy life and its experiences deeper than what materialistic pleasures can give us.

Now, this difference arises from the fact that technology has advanced so much since then. While Thoreau does talk of how railroads and postal services are not important for actual human connectedness, Pia Edberg in the current context discusses how advanced technology has led to information overload and how that has resulted in stress and anxiety in today's world. The key to this is slowing down, according to both of them. While Thoreau wants all of us to live life 'deliberately', Edberg says we must "Turn off all of the technology!" because we forget to pause, stay still, and relax.

Thoreau also talks about the deception of life and how in living a life of routine, we lose our existence to petty fears and pleasures. He emphasises how we lose track of reality and live in delusions.

"By closing the eyes and slumbering, and consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundations," he says.

On the other hand, Pia Edberg talks about how we seek approval everywhere and end up losing our identity. She explains the importance of listening to our inner voices to grow and evolve. She says, "In the context of Hygge, being completely authentic is essential. There should be no pretending or putting on a false image."

In this case, while Thoreau asks us to not blindly be deceived by illusions, Edberg asks us to be the real ourselves without pretence. To put it simply, one says we must not yield into fantasies and the other says we must be true to ourselves and others. So both of them talk about living a life of reality and truths.

Another common thing that Thoreau and Edberg talk about is the importance of being in connection with nature. Thoreau himself had moved into the woods for a nature-oriented life and he asks us to “spend one day as deliberately as nature”. He talks about being self-sufficient living alone in the woods.

In The Cozy Life, Pia Edberg talks about living a minimalist life that is nature-oriented. All the Hygge lifestyle habits she mentions in the book are nature-related. She also teaches how it is important to be okay with solitude. She believes it is when we can become comfortable with introspection and idleness that we find the space to figure out who we really are. At these times she also talks of how nature can be a good company for us. This theme also is in concurrence with Thoreau's views.

Thoreau talks about how we had a deeper understanding of life when we were children and as we grow up we move away from reality in pursuit of material pleasures. To quote his words, he says,

"Children, who play life, discern its true law and relations more clearly than men, who fail to live it worthily, but who think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by failure."

Pia Edberg also, in her book talks about reconnecting with the inner child. She says how as a child grows, society influences how he or she must spend time. It is the society that thrusts us with expectations, killing the inner child within us and pushing us towards materialistic goals. If we take time to reflect on what we liked as a child, we would realise where our heart lies and what we have done to our lives by merely earning and spending. In the process of growing up, we have become someone that the world wants us to be. She quotes Daniel LaPorte in this chapter:

"Can you remember who you were before the world told you who to be?" (Danielle LaPorte)

So, reading both these texts can make us realise the connection between Thoreau's views of transcendentalism and Pia Edberg's experience with the Danish concept of Hygge. From simplicity, self-reliance, minimalism to awakening the inner child, both these texts give us a deep insight into how life is meant to be and how we are just surviving and not living life to its fullest. Both these works would make us realise the importance of stopping and standing to actually live life.

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Works Cited:

• Edberg, Pia. The Cozy Life: Rediscover the Joy of the Simple Things Through the Danish Concept of Hygge. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016.
• Thoreau, Henry. "Where I Lived, and What I
• Lived For". Penguin Books, 2005.