In recent years it’s become a hackneyed truism that Nordic nations have found the key to happiness. The Danes, who often take first place in global rankings for mental wellbeing, pride themselves on hygge, that feeling of coziness evoked by wrapping oneself in blankets and being surrounded by candles. The Swedes promote lagom, the concept of the optimal medium. And while the Finns also appear to be satisfied with their lot – Finland came first in this year’s World Happiness Report for the ninth time in a row – they have no well-known term that encapsulates their attitude to life.

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In the spirit of Nordic one-upmanship, however, that could be about to change. Two Finnish film producers have announced they will open a “Finnish happiness experience museum” in Helsinki next year to explore how they are happier than their Scandinavian neighbors – and why. The reason, it transpires, is because the Finns accept that life is tough. 

One of the museum’s curators, Johannes Lassila, believes that this ostensibly curious paradox – that the Finns are content because they know that........

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