Avoiding Money isn't generally a topic that will get a lot of attention, especially during the holiday season, but for those few folks who have 'go-against-the-grain' souls, you might appreciate this topic. It is the holiday season and so much of what we do revolves around money....buying gifts, mailing cards (stamps cost money), purchasing special groceries for that holiday meal....it is hard to do without money. While we may not be able to avoid it completely, perhaps we could think about shifting the focus from money during the holiday season. What would your holiday look like with no money? Could you still enjoy yourself? Recently a new friend of mine spoke to me about the Buddhist idea of avoiding handling money. This put the wheels in motion. What would my life look like with no money? I am not talking about living in poverty. I know what poverty looks like....real poverty, slums with no food, no clean water, no sewage system, no hope. I am talking about having enough. I am talking about our values. If our society operated on a barter system, what would you be offering the world? What would it look like if we were not judged by our buying power but instead valued for what we offered society? What would it really be like to NOT HAVE MONEY? I recently had someone offer me a large sum of money, not for free but as a 'deal' like most things in this life....but it doesn't matter what the deal was or how much money was involved, what I want to talk about is 'money manipulation' and this is not an investment technique. I am talking about the idea of some wealthy folks that they can manipulate others just by making the 'right offer'. This is based on their assumption that everybody wants money. Sure, I want to be able to pay my bills, and to go on occasional vacations, but beyond that, I see that THINGS and MONEY can be burdens. Take my mini house for example. I have been in houses wherein my entire home could fit into their living-room alone. Imagine the cost of heating and cooling that size house. Imagine cleaning it. . . or maybe you think you will pay someone to clean it, but then ask yourself for what are you working? Working 10 hour days 5-6 days of the week so that you can pay someone else to clean your giant home? Doesn't that sound odd? Wouldn't your time be better spent with loved ones and doing something you really loved to do? Everything grows from your thoughts. I could look at my old carpet, fraying at the edges, and complain that I don't have the money for new carpet. Instead, when I notice how shabby the carpet is, I see it as a sign of freedom, and I smile. I have the freedom to work doing something I LOVE and I am not tied to a desk doing something that sucks the life out of me. I also have the freedom of NOT WORRYING about something spilling and staining the carpet, (because who worries about old carpet?) which then by extension offers my pets a great deal of freedom from stress, that when they have sickness and accidents, they don't have to worry about feeling negative energy from me over something as insignificant as carpet. Not having (to a certain degree) offers freedom from worrying about things. Not wanting is also a kind of freedom. It is freedom from craving, from desire, from jealousy. Contentment is the most valuable thing you can 'have'. So don't try to throw money in my direction in an attempt to get me to dance to your tune. It won't work. It won't work because I am content with my simple life. Content with my rusty old car and content with my mini house. Freedom from want is true contentment and true contentment is real power.
Some of you will understand this, and others will believe that simple living is only a synonym for being poor. Meanwhile, I believe every word of my song, 'Extravagant Life'. I have a solid roof over my head, a soft clean bed, running water, warm food on the table and fresh fruit (and veggies) from my own garden. Therefore I am considered by much of the world to be rich, in fact, filthy rich. And if you don't believe that, then take your money and do some traveling. Step out of your backyard and see how the rest of the world lives. Open your eyes and you will see that there are happy rich people and sad rich people just as there are happy poor people and sad poor people. Could it be that money has nothing to do with happiness?????????? Could it be that happiness grows from our thoughts, just like everything else does? (Hint = the answer is yes)
And a final word of warning to anyone else that might want to wave their money in my face as if I could be hypnotized by it, .... Go Away! If I were interested in money I never would've become a musician.
And for those of you who 'totally get it' .... I say THANK YOU. Thank you for going against the grain, living simply so that others can simply live, and for understanding that I have my own dreams, my own goals, and not a damn one of them has to do with 'having money'. . . . and they never will.
Life is brief. One day it will end. One day you will exhale and no inhale will follow and your short life ends just like that. How will you spend the time you have been given?
You can listen to my song, Extravagant Life, here on YouTube; https://youtu.be/JItsE8Rg1v8