Cheap thrills or…
Oh, what the heck, let’s begin with cheap thrills: receiving pleasure or thrills while spending little or no money on the experience.
Are you with me so far?
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the phrase “cheap thrills” the first thing that springs to mind is (sigh) an illicit or frowned upon activity. Something about which I feel embarrassed or slightly sheepish. This is often followed by a sense of, furtively, looking over my shoulder, wondering if someone sees me participating in this “cheap thrill.” And maybe scrunching my shoulders so as not to be seen. Oh my…
Oh my, is right! When did a term for a free or low-cost (and hopefully enjoyable) activity become somewhat pejorative? Out with your own 2 cents, Jan; I know it’s on the tip of your tongue. Ahem…maybe growing up in a culture weighted toward the more expensive the experience, the better??
Following are a few of my cheap thrills; make your own judgments:
Gazing at the humongous, nature-sculpted, pine tree outside. The tree fills me with wonder at its thriving and surviving.
Always greeting my local coffee barista by his first name-always-and watching his eyes light up at the recognition (and yay for me that I remembered!)
Oh well, what the heck - one more. Rediscovering a soul-nurturing book that I thought I’d given away. Waving it around in joy. Akin to having a small safety net that I now know where to find!
The power of these momentary “cheap thrills”to fill my heart are in no way diminished by being cost-free. Putatively sticking my tongue out at our culture which appears to tie the financial value of an activity to a higher level of personal fulfillment. Culture, get a life of your own!
No, no, not yet finished with my gentle (?) diatribe regarding cultural values and the “cheap thrills” descriptor. Bet you didn’t know I was going to introduce….a change agent. I am! A simple one. Reframing. Altering our language can put a golden spin on a term that wasn’t present in the original meaning.
My reframe du jour - “cheap thrills” becomes (are-you-ready?) “joy snacking.” Joy snacking? Joy snacking! No, no, not trying to sell you treats. Really. (Although I still have a child-like and joyous yearning for Hostess Cupcakes.) Morphing cheap thrills, a dollar-based descriptor, into an unadulterated heart-lifting activity of snacking on moments of joy. A much more uplifting (and, might I add, judgment-free) description for filling our hearts, minds, and spirits in the moment.
Oh my, where do you dig up these concepts, Jan? C’mon! I am coming on….on to the relatively new research-based science of joy. Conscious snacking on joy can enrich our lives immeasurably. Much more palatable than “cheap thrills,” don’t you think?
So, “joy snackers” of the world, venture out. Spread the word about joy snacking or soul snacking, or however you identify the moments that fill you up with joy or peace, no cost entailed and no minimizing language. A win-win situation…
If your heart and funny-bone are nurtured by This Being Human Thing, please share with others.
I love this “snacking on Joy” term! The first time I heard the term “cheap thrill” was when my then sister in law had a wardrobe malfunction prior to she and my brother leaving to go out, and he got all excited and she just pulled up her strap, laughed and said, ok, you’ve had your “cheap thrill”. So that’s what the term always conjured up for me, something somewhat illicit, like a man “bumping” into a woman accidentally on purpose then halfway apologizing while walking off with a smirk on his face.
I so much prefer your term. My mom was a mistress at cheap thri... er--joy snacking. We would spend hours playing dominoes on sundays, or cards, or Yahtzee, or monopoly, or putting puzzles together. It was how she always seemed to hold onto what little income she got, and would share with my brothers and I (young adult, and at times not so young, adult children that we were at the time) if we were in need.
You always seem to come up with great phrase turnarounds. I love it! Thank you for this!
I love thinking of a soul-nurturing book as a safety net. Maybe that's why I slow down reading it as the end approaches! Thank you!