When You Know What is Enough

Discovering the Nordic key to happiness ~ in Portugal!

A few years ago, there was a fascinating article on the Finnish secret to happiness by Penelope Colston in the New York Times.

Colston’s interviews with a diverse group of Finns collectively offer a nuanced and insightful take on the concept of happiness. As the Finns see it, she writes, it’s not ‘happiness’ – as we often think of it in popular culture – that is important.

“Happiness – sometimes it’s a light word and used like it’s only a smile on a face,” says Teemu Kiiski, the chief executive of Finnish Design Shop. “But I think that this Nordic happiness is something more foundational.”

Arto O Salonen, a professor at the University of Eastern Finland, has researched well-being in Finnish society.

“Finns derive satisfaction from leading sustainable lives and perceive financial success as being able to identify and meet basic needs,” Salonen says.

“In other words, when you know what is enough, you are happy.”

Perhaps it helps that I am half Nordic myself, but this is exactly how it is for me here in Portugal and why I feel happy here on a daily basis.

I don’t have many of the typical things people moving to Portugal say they’d like to have. I don’t live in one of the big, popular cities. I’m 45 minutes away from the ocean. I can’t walk to cafés. Nightlife, unless you consider listening to the sound of croaking frogs in the woods entertainment, is pretty much nonexistent. I live in the smallest space I’ve lived in since the 1980s.

But I have enough. More than enough, actually.

I live in just 4 rooms on the top floor of a small house I can (mostly) take care of myself. I am surrounded by pretty gardens with a stream running through them. There is room for guests and family downstairs. While not rich by any stretch of the imagination, I have enough freelance income to get by comfortably in this country.

I live in a safe and beautiful area. My neighbors are friendly. There are farms and growers throughout the villages around me. Most of the time, the weather is fine and the air smells noticeably fresh and wonderful. I’m even starting to grow some of my own food.

Friends of various nationalities live nearby, and I can walk to their homes in the surrounding villages.

Good supermarkets, a decent hardware store, a wonderful vet practice, a post office that also sells books, a beautiful farm that has yoga classes and many other amenities are just a short drive from my house. And Coimbra, the fourth largest city in Portugal is just twenty-five minutes away, twenty minutes if you drive like the Portuguese.

Portugal has a well-regarded system of healthcare. It also has lots of bookstores and one of the oldest universities in the world, established nearly one thousand years ago! The food is good and safe and (mostly) local, the wine is tasty and surprisingly inexpensive, nature is varied and gorgeous, and there are are fascinating historical places to discover and explore throughout the country.

Portugal definitely has bureaucracy and other issues that frustrate foreigners. And yes, Portuguese is a difficult language to learn. But so many here are willing to help you with words and phrases; they are patient with you and not critical of your mistakes and stumblings.

I have everything I need here. And, just as importantly, I don’t have things I don’t actually need to be happy.

Original art by Kristin Fellows

Kristin Fellows is a published artisan writer, a world traveler, and a well-seasoned documentary film consultant. This tale comes to you from a small farming village in Portugal, where she is still surprised to find herself living.

When not writing, Kristin can often be found walking Kiitos, listening to someone’s story, or behind the lens of one of her cameras. Or perhaps doing all three at the same time.

More about Kristin @ kristinfellowswriter.com

[photo of Kristin by Liza Debevec]