I think we were all happy to see the door hit 2009 in the backside on the way out. I don't know of anyone who hasn't felt the stinging impact of the Great Recession in some way. Some have taken a very personal, painful impact in the form of the loss of a job, home or life savings. Others have seen family members suffer or watched their retirement plans dry up like a pond in August. Even those who have not suffered major economic setbacks have felt the fear, the free-floating insecurity that sets in when we our way of life fluttering away like a worthless dollar bill. It's unnerving, if not downright terrifying, to feel as though everything you have worked toward-your children's education, your early exit from the working world, your dream business-can vanish virtually overnight.

Another huge shift that I and many others have seen is what we could call "the new frugality." Some have adopted it voluntarily, either because there is a public stigma now attached to conspicuous consumption or because they worry about their own financial futures and want to stop their profligate spending while they can. Others have been left with no choice: robbed of good jobs or any jobs at all, living on unemployment and savings and whatever they can manage, they are doing what they can to make ends meet. And still others are adopting the new frugality as their contribution to conserving our environment. Coupon clipping has grown by more than 50% in the last year; frugality clubs are on the rise. People are growing and canning their own food, learning to knit, sew and repair their possessions, and reveling in simple, inexpensive pleasures like cooking at home, playing board games and visiting with neighbors. I'm not going to be naïve and claim that our widespread economic pain (17% unemployment and underemployment) is purely a blessing in disguise. But it is truly an ill wind that blows no one any good, and the changes that these hard economic times have brought to light seem to have wrought a long-term shift in our conciousness. Simplicity has become a virtue again. Thrift has replaced tweeting as the skill du jour. Poor, it seems, is the new black.