People come to me because they’re stressed and they sense money is the reason. The come because they want money to feel gentler, easier, and have peace of mind.
After working together people feel joy and have clarity on their next steps – we work together to use money as medicine for its highest use in their life. A key ingredient is that people come to me when they are ready.
It is often less about what I as their money coach do or say, but about the fact that each person I work with took a step in the direction of their dreams, to paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, and has reached out for a guide.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
While we can do a lot as individuals we also must recognize our context. In Big Magic author Elizabeth Gilbert points out that while yes, Thoreau did advance confidently in the directions of his dream, he also had access to support through family and friends. On Sundays his mom brought him donuts as a treat! Gilbert shares this to encourage everyone interested in “big magic” to TAKE THE DONUTS! as in, take the help offered to you.
Facing What’s Troubling Us
I was reminded again of how important community and hope are last week after a conversation on climate collapse. My friend shared their frustration at seeing corporations talk about values, yet still cover their merchandise in plastic. They said that we should just be transparent that money is our only motivator and stop pretending to care more than we do… plus at the end of the day Earth will go on after we’re gone, indifferent to our species just like we are indifferent to so many species going extinct because of us – like my beloved ajolote.
After this conversation I vibrated with anger for a few hours. Later that evening while talking it through with a dear friend and mentor I realized what had happened: That conversation touched this really scared part of me that wonders whether hedonism followed by suicide at the first sign of aging are really the only rational options in a society that feels so focused on its own destruction.
Anyone else ever feel like this?
This despair and overwhelm feel like a natural part of understanding where we are in terms of the planet’s ability to support us, along with so many other deeply entrenched social problems. This is why organizations like the Work that Reconnects and Wisdom & Money are important in that they help us transform this awareness of the problem into actions that heal. In every moment we have agency to effect the world around us. To read more on this topic check out Why care about personal finances when the world is coming to an end.
The Power of a Free Imagination
While we can feel powerless when faced with world hunger, the degradation of our Earth, and white supremacy – we have a free imagination. As we reclaim our thinking towards more generative ways of being we must be supported by innovative thought leaders. This concept of money as medicine comes from edgar villanueva’s work on decolonizing philanthropy.
All of our flourishing is mutual. Like Covid has shown us, there is no “peeing side of the swimming pool”. Your actions affect me, my actions affect you.
Money has been such a source of trauma for our world that every positive interaction we have with it is HEALING.
Anyone who’s been in a car accident knows the first drive immediately after the accident can be nerve wracking, yet it gets easier with time.
Hopeful Thought Leaders
The following books have been so impactful for me that I’m not completely done digesting their truth. When oppression is so thick imagining a life of liberation is like learning a new language and requires lots of repeated exposure, practice partners, and being comfortable making mistakes.
Valeria Aloe’s Uncolonized Latinas hit home so hard I literally had to put this book down and walk away for weeks at a time.
It was painful to see my grandmother, my mother, and myself in Valeria’s description of a colonized Latina – where keeping ourselves small was a survival strategy.
I am grateful I continued on and did finish because it filled me with hope. Valeria paves a way forward to reclaim our wholeness and is building a community and Rising Together movement for Latinas.
In Decolonizing Wealth edgar villanueva describes how the philanthropic sector is full of colonizer thinking.
Villanueva describes how this thinking affects those working in philanthropy, recipients of philanthropy, and donors.
During his time in philanthropy he transformed from someone who was not fully aware of their indigenous background to embracing it, seeing the power in coming from many places. As child of immigrants I love these stories.
As a money coach and guide I am honored every time I get to meet clients on this journey of financial empowerment. It’s normal for our motivation to go through peaks and valleys, especially when making big changes or coming to terms with some of the toxicity in our WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) culture. Yet, when your dreams are clear the valleys are lit up by the possibilities you envision and by your inner sense of what’s calling you forward.
Money as medicine that embraces our mutual flourishing can look like buying free trade, to advocating for salary transparency at your company, to saying yes to mutual aid sources like the BuyNothingProject.com. I’d love to hear from you! What does the phrase “money as medicine” mean to you? Feel free to leave a comment.
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