money
For the last couple years I've been trying to re-examine my views on money (I used to think it was just a necessary evil).
I've been reading both practical books about budgeting and financial planning and also more conceptual books about gender roles and racism and money and consumerism, but my favorite so far has been The Soul of Money.
The author Lynn Twist was a professional fundraiser for large nonprofits. And I love her perspectives on the myth of scarcity and the idea of "enough."
She points out that the myth of scarcity and it's three parts—that there's not enough to go around, more is better, and this is just the way it is—are ingrained in us from the beginning. Twist gives the example of the childhood game of musical chairs, where we literally teach children the idea that resources are scarce and to grab what they can in order to win!
But what if there is enough?
Twist writes, "When we let go of the chase for more, and consciously examine and experience the resources we already have, we discover our resources are deeper than we knew or imagined."
This kind of paradox—that when we focus on what we already have with gratitude, what we already have is expansive—rings very true to me.
A conscious attention of gratitude is the medicine for scarcity. And it's helped me change both my practical approaches and my heart/mindset toward money.
What do you think? Do you have a favorite book or resource on money? I'd love to hear!
With care,
Brianna
P.S. Are you re-examining your views on big life topics like money or god or your relationships or meaning/purpose? If you want support in this process, I'm here!
P.P.S. And a little more food for thought from one of my spiritual teachers, Cynthia Bourgeault, on the power of gratitude: "It’s easy to be grateful when something good has been done for you, but have you ever thought about gratitude not as a response but as a force in its own right; an initiating and healing energy that is not dependent on external circumstances but is rather an innate power of the human soul? When understood and wielded in this fashion, it has the power to liberate us from our self-imposed prisons of self-pity and envy and to actually change the energy fields (and hence, the outcome) of our circumstances."
Photo via Unsplash: Dylan Hunter @dylhunter