Mo' Money Ain't It

The other day I was driving around and pulled into the drive-thru at McDonald's for some breakfast. I only wanted one Egg McMuffin. I realized I had NO CASH, which is completely normal for me these days, and asked if I could use my debit card for such a small amount. Of course!

I work downtown and have many a panhandler asking for spare change. I tell them, "Seriously, dude, I only have plastic."

I also remember as a kid hearing that in the 2000s (enter Twilight Zone music) we would just scan a bar code or some tattoo on our arm and this would reveal how much money we had or "credit" or "energy" to complete the transaction. There would be no money. And with the above examples, we are practically there.

All of these new technologies have come to be for our convenience, sure, but it is also opening up another dimension for me and my relationship with money. Money is just paper. Dirty paper at that. But most of us invest a LOT of emotional baggage into this paper. And it's the main reason we work.

I realized with the need to only carry one thin piece of plastic, that my money is really just an idea. It's the proof that I contributed a certain amount of energy, time, talent and left something better off than I found it; and that gave me what I needed in return: food, clothing and shelter and a little entertainment now and again.

I wonder if we start to see our jobs as really nothing more than this (energy in, energy out) it would allow some of the political and emotional angst to drop away? My entire website is designed to help you with this angst. But perhaps this one thought (that you need refuge from the elements and food and your employer is in some way--however indirectly-- providing that to the larger community and needs your help to do it) is really all there is to it.

Martha Beck said in a quote that I keep posted to my computer, "Only strive to earn enough money to do your life's work. Anything additional is unnecessary." And that may at first make you nervous...but if you sit with it for a moment, you'll see that's completely true.

If we are focused on "How much more money will this bring me?" instead of "Am I giving what I'm getting?", then we will never feel whole. It isn't about money, then, it's about something else.

Money isn't the root of all evil or the source of peace. Money is just paper. Money is just energy that we trade with others. And we have jobs to earn that energy...it's really nothing more complicated than that.


See Stephanie's site Work Stress Solutions for more information like this.