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Before sitting down to write this article, I had to dim my lights to the correct level of warmth, light multiple candles, pour myself a glass of wine and turn on some french jazz, because for the first of our spotlight series, I am talking about Cozy Milwaukee.
Cozy Milwaukee is a resource, travel guide and blog relating to all places and activities in Milwaukee that can be considered ‘cozy’. It started in 2018, shortly after its creators, Tom and Rachael Gonzalez, moved to Milwaukee after moving from one place to the next, trying to find a place to call their own, throughout North America. I chatted with Rachael for this piece, and in the interview alone, she mentioned growing up in New England, then moving to New York, Chicago, and Mexico City before her and Tom decided, rather spontaneously, to move to Milwaukee. “I realized in the first two months [of living here] that I didn’t want to live anywhere else,” Rachael said.
HYG.GE
/ˈh(y)o͞oɡə,ˈho͝oɡə/
Oxford Dictionary
Rachael focuses the tenants Cozy Milwaukee around the Swedish concept of Hygge, which in a broad sense, relates to anything that makes you feel at home. “At its core, Hygge means that you are at home in your body and in your surroundings,” said Rachael. “It’s about understanding when you are approaching burnout and learning how to self-soothe.”
Therefore, the concept of Hygge and wellness regularly intercept each other. According to her, Rachael has never felt such a strong sense of Hygge and community until she moved to Milwaukee (except perhaps when her and Tom spent their honeymoon in Scandinavia, the home of Hygge).
Rachael strongly feels the community connection running through Milwaukee’s citizens. Upon their arrival, her and Tom were instantly greeted by neighbors and community members, and welcomed into their friend groups as if the couple had been living next door to them for years. And according to her, the strong support of local businesses is unmistakable.
Supporting local organizations and the concept of Hygge are “so intertwined with each other, there is no way you could separate one from the other,” said Rachael.
“Living locally makes you feel invested in the spaces you passes by on the street everyday,” said Rachael. “It makes you want to walk by them more, see who else is shopping there, and say hello to the people running it more. You start to feel like they are apart of your family.”
When asked how Milwaukee could possibly more cozy, Rachael stated bluntly and truthfully, “we have to deal with the issue of racism here.” Not only did she mention all of the obvious, yet very important, points of treating others with kindness and equality, but she also pointed out that people who want to live in a holistic environment can’t possibly do so if parts of their community are excluded.
Hygge is comforting, self-soothing, mentally relaxing, nostalgic and warmth. These traits are found in every type of race, religion and ethnicity. If you ignore these specific parts of the community you are living in, you can’t completely be living with a sense of wellness.
To read more of Cozy Milwaukee’s blog click here. To purchase their zines, stickers and reserve their consultations click here. Rachael also runs a body-healing business known as Familiar. To learn more about their products and services click here (we hope to interview her again soon to find out more about Familiar).
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