The “Economy” is an eco-system composed of mutual interdependencies. It features worlds within worlds and therefore resists singular statements. For example, you can declare that “the economy is bad,” but at the same time, there are always people who make money during recessions and even depressions. The “Economy” is not just something “out there,” or something directed by big corporations or federal regulators. It is also a most accurate reflection of who and where we are as a people, and it tells us much about our own inner workings.
As I described in April, I’m sharing some ideas and practices that can help to rebalance the terrain, that can allow us to sidestep the more destructive aspects of a toxic economy: wage slavery, seeing others as objects, dependence upon the whims of markets, and being constantly caught in hope and fear.
This round: “I Am Not My Money”
This may be one of the great mantras of our time. To judge oneself by one’s money is to consent to be defined by fleeting collective values. Markets can change in a millisecond. Inflation makes what was money yesterday, worthless today. Am I going to allow myself to feel open or fearful because of numbers on a screen, or am I going to bank on the flow of universal openness and abundance. The effective measure here is not money, but the quality of energy in operation. How do I use the money I have? Do I work with money in such a way that I can be entrusted with more of it? Do I keep monetary exchanges open and flowing with other beings?
Unhook from “bad advice” about money. Specifically from family and “friends” who seem to think they know what is best for you. Advice only affects you if something in you already resonates with it. Become aware of destructive family patterns that are all too often reinforced by destructive mainstream national or even global patterns.
