Come Happy, Go Happy

 

In Iceland, people greet each other with “komdu sæll” meaning ‘come happy’ and part ways by saying “vertu sæll” which is ‘go happy’.

I learned this while reading “The Geography of Bliss, One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World”. In it journalist Eric Weiner chronicles his travels through countries that have been noted for their high levels of happiness (or unhappiness), trying to figure out just what gives their people so much joy, what causes them to feel blue, and how that differs from America. Reading this book has been incredibly delightful and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my visits to Switzerland, Bhutan, and Great Britain to name a few. The country that stole my heart most though was Iceland, that frozen beauty up north.

 Miami based Weiner suffered an understandable shock upon landing there in January (he did have a logical reason for going that time of year), on the other hand I found his descriptions of the hard ice, cold snow and permanent darkness to be perfectly fantastic and exactly the way life should be. Weiner’s time there introduced me to so many wondrous aspects of Icelandic culture (wild connections with nature, an obsession of books, believing in elves) that I began to feel a very strong desire to move there, now (seriously, any ideas on what I could do for a job?). And I just love how the native language plays such an important role in bringing happiness to the people, particularly their versions of hello and goodbye. So while I may not be moving to Iceland (yet) I am going to start adopting the practice of “komdu sæll” and "vertu sæll", as I think doing so will go quite far on my own quest to find happiness.

So until next time vertu sæll, go happy.

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