What About Money?

I've been thinking a lot about money lately. Not only has the lingering recession kept the subject forefront in my mind - will I be able to expand my client base with everyone so skittish about their finances? - I'm also writing a book about money. The idea for the book evolved with my coaching practice, as time and again clients would declare their dreams off-limits because of money. Either they didn't have enough to do what they wanted to do, or they couldn't make enough money doing what they wanted to do. Or both.

I find it fascinating that, when money becomes our primary consideration or goal, our true goals are often buried or ignored. I think this is because, in separating money as an object to be pursued, obtained and accumulated, we separate it from the very process that confers its value: the process of giving and receiving, creating and sharing. Money's primary purpose is to facilitate the creative process, and its value is inextricably linked to that process. When we see it as an object divorced from our creativity - when we pursue it as a goal - we divorce ourselves from our creativity as well.

When money is not only the primary goal but is also seen as the true measure of our worth and success, more is always seen as better. We choose jobs and careers on the basis of their money-making potential rather than on their fit with our innate strengths and talents, and we hold ourselves back from investing in things that would move us toward the realization of our dreams. We expend lots of energy on finding "deals" that help us spend as little money as possible - just think of all the creative energy that's focused on trying to minimize or avoid taxes, all the time spent researching the absolute lowest cost of a planned purchase and all the hours spent cutting coupons. (I'm not saying we shouldn't be mindful about the cost of things; I'm just saying that our preoccupation with money as the sole basis for making decisions blinds us to so much that is worthwhile and satisfying, including other ways we could be focusing our creative energy and attention.)

In my own life I've fallen prey to the "money is king" mindset. As an accountant and financial analyst I learned all the money rules our culture has laid out, and did my best to follow them. Along the way I became cynical, resigned and unfulfilled. I was making "good money" but wasn't making anything of my life that actually reflected who I am. And so I began the journey of discovering who I am and how my soul wanted to express herself in the world. The journey continues.

And yes, I still want to make good money. It's just that I don't want to make good money at the expense of living an awake, inspired and authentic life. So a big part of this journey is discovering new ways of relating to money that honor its value and importance without making it the reason for our existence. And that's why I decided to write the book. I know many of us want a healthier relationship with money: we don't want money to be our god, but nor do we want to be starving artists. We want to invite money to its rightful place in our lives. I'll be talking more about that in future posts...and in my book, of course!

And speaking of books - as part of the market research for the one I'm currently writing, I've read a lot of books about money and, particularly, about how to make money from a more enlightened, spiritual perspective. Many of them are quite good and helpful, yet several of them are grounded in a certain perspective that, for me, is at once appealing and repellant. They speak of money as a force for good, and in fact exhort readers to want it - lots of it. It's almost as if there is something wrong with you if you don't aspire to be a millionaire, because there is so much good you can do in the world when you make lots of money and you can give lots of it away to charity. These books talk about making money ethically and managing it responsibly and creatively, yet the underlying premise is: make as much money as possible, as fast as you can.

And that's the very premise I think needs to be challenged. I realize there have been, and continue to be, great philanthropists whose gargantuan monetary contributions have laid the foundation for innumerable works of great consequence. I also realize that the smaller contributions each of us make keep our favorite charities alive and able to do their important work. Yet I believe that, if we weren't living in a culture that drives us toward money as the main goal, there would be far less need for charity in the first place. A more natural balance would be restored in the flow of giving and receiving, creating and sharing, in the absence of the relentless push for more. If we focused on the creative process itself and what we're called to give, we would live from our talent and generosity and the world would benefit directly from our gifts. We wouldn't need to "make money" in order to give; we would be naturally giving, and enjoying the benefits of money as a facilitator of the exchange process.

I realize this may seem idealistic or even patently absurd to many, yet surely we can see the obvious distortions that our fear-based, greed-sanctioned culture has spawned. At the very least I think now is the time to take a time-out, to pause and examine all the rules about money that have ruled us for so long. Some may still serve us, some may not. But we disempower ourselves when we allow our quest for money, or our fear of not having enough of it, squelch our creativity and passion.

Let's invite money back to its rightful place in our lives...and let's be the ones who decide what that is.