Guide for the "new poor"

"Catharsis" or "emotional cleansing", this is what I felt when I came out from the cinema today after watching The Good Life by Eva Mulvad, in the Nordisk Panorama film festival.

This tragicomic documentary shows the everyday life of two Danish women, mother and daughter, living in the beautiful Portuguese town of Cascais. They used to be rich but they are "the new poors" now, unable to adapt themselves to their new reality and living stuck in the sweet memories from a lost past that will never come back...

"Work is still a taboo word for me", says Anne Mette to her mother, when they are unable to pay the rent because they only have 20 € to spend the rest of the month.
Later on she tells us that "the new poors are doing worse than the new richs", complaining all the time about their bad fate and blaming on her parents because they never told her how to survive on her own in real world...

Anyway, Anne Mette still shows a good sense of humor, being social and able to enjoy the small things of life from time to time.

That's why I've decided to write this small guide for the "new poors":

1. Walk on the sunny side of the street

2. If it's rainy and you prefer to stay at home, read that book that you never finished, with a cup of your favorite tea / coffee.

3. Open the window, breath deep and smile.

4. Talk to that stranger that smiled at you in the street the other day

5. Drop fast food and buy something new in the market, for the price of cheap street food, you can cook something special at home

6. Call to that friend that always makes you laugh

And remember: The best things in life are for free!