In Search of Frugal Joy

"Recently, my librarian friend Jenny offered an intriguing book recommendation-The Art of Frugal Hedonism. I found it at a local bookstore and now have a copy in hand. After digesting a few of its ideas, I decided to see what kind of joy I could create from the concept of frugal hedonism. Before getting started, though, I rechristened the concept frugal joy. I'm too self-conscious to consider myself a hedonist. Joy, I can handle."

"The next day, I experienced frugal joy at the fish counter when I found fresh crab at a steep discount. The monger studiously took each crustacean in hand, assessing their relative weight and solidity. Then he cheerfully cleaned the one he deemed most worthy and wished me bon appetit. A few aisles away, a small-statured woman asked me to snare a couple of sauce jars from the top shelf for her."

"It finally being my turn to select the book, I'd decided on a new favorite non-fiction tome, The Wide, Wide Sea. It's about Captain Cook's fateful third voyage throughout the Pacific. I'd mentioned the book to an out-of-state friend I visited over the holidays. He's a recreational sailor, and I thought he'd like it. Tom got up and returned with a book published in 1978, Sailors and Sauerkraut, which is basically a recipe book of dishes referred to in Cook's journals."

I rechristened frugal hedonism as frugal joy and set out to create small, inexpensive moments of pleasure. At a fish counter I found fresh crab at a steep discount; the monger selected, cleaned, and wished me bon appétit, producing delight. A few aisles later I helped a short-statured woman reach sauce jars; she left smiling and I felt pleased. For book group I chose The Wide, Wide Sea and shared it with a sailor friend, who produced a 1978 cookbook, Sailors and Sauerkraut; perusing the recipes together was a hoot. I searched used bookstores for a copy to recreate a historical dish, without success.

Read at Psychology Today