Talofa Friends,
September has arrived. There’s a chill in the morning air that surprises me when I let our dog out wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Our gorgeous sunflower blooms are beginning to fade and form seeds that the birds will soon use to pad themselves for winter. While signs show Autumn is on the way, it’s not here yet.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the summer season is divided into two parts: true summer and late summer. True Summer lasts from summer solstice on June 21 to mid-August. It’s a lively time for socializing and celebrating, associated with the fire element as the days are long, hot, and full. Late Summer lasts from mid-August to the fall equinox on September 22. This is a time for nurturing and nourishing, associated with the earth element. It’s a time to find grounding in our roots to nourish ourselves for the cold, dark days ahead.
How can you ground your roots during this Late Summer time?
To find my grounding, I ventured out to Stone Mountain State Park (the one in North Carolina) last weekend. It was a beautiful blue sky day with a steady breeze. I ran the Loop Trail, going clockwise down steps paralleling waterfalls and then onto rolling forest singletrack, hopping over roots and rocks before a spicy mile climb up to the top. I felt strong, free, and happy. My mind slowed as I shook off the hustle and bustle of True Summer. At the top, I took a deep breathe and blew out the heat I had been holding. On the run down, all I could feel was me, the wind, and the earth beneath.
Pure simplicity.
Simplicity is something I value and strive for in living well, which brings me to sharing part 2 of the Living well with $ series. (See part 1 here: What does “money” mean?)
Be yourself and go all the way ~ Lao Tzu
Caring for Money
Last week I had fun digging into what “money” means. This week I’ll share a couple of insights and tips I’ve learned for caring for any amount of money, so that it may continue to be a mirror— simply reflecting back what is truly needed and valued.
It helps to have an example:
Right now there is $200 in my savings account.
Last week there was $1,000.
One year ago, there was $9,000.
In a few days, I’ll make a deposit and that figure will change again.
The point is: money moves. It moves in and out of my hands, and I am the one who cares for this flow of energy.
So the question becomes: How do I care for this flow well?
My answers:
Remember money buys needs. That’s it.
Follow individual desire.
NEEDS
As a teen, I remember my Mum responding to my request for a new watch: “Do you need it?” It was important to her that I distinguish between “wants” and “needs.” If I needed something, she would do her best to ensure I had it. If it was a “want,” then it would have to wait until a special occasion. This mindset helped calm my teenage yearning to have cool stuff to fit in, but more importantly, it helped me form a sense of purpose for the objects in my life. To have a dress was to be clothed. To have lunch money was to be fed. To have a new bedspread was to have somewhere warm to sleep.
As an adult, I’ve come to see my “wants” as having a purpose too. Underneath the “want” is always a deeper, universal “need.” When I want to buy new yarn or when I want to sign up for an ultramarathon, those are indicators of my deeper needs at the moment. I want more yarn because I need to express my creativity through knitting something beautiful. I want to sign up for the ultramarathon because I need adventure and a big goal to work towards. Understanding the deeper need that is driving my “wants” helps me avoid thoughtless purchases and increases the value of the thing I invest in because I understand its deeper purpose in my life. I can also more easily locate other low or no-cost ways to express my creativity and find adventure, etc. when I know that’s what I need.
Try: The next time you have a “want,” take a moment to identify what the underlying “need” might be that you’re trying to fulfill.
DESIRE
Desire is tricky. To desire something is to be attracted to it; to want it to become a part of the part of you that is drawn to it. Desire is closely connected to taste, as in personal taste for clothing, food, adventure, books, etc. But being tuned into our personal taste and desire can be hard these days. In this era of aggressively transfixing social media and influencer marketing, our sense of individual desire can easily get hijacked. When we see a targeted advertisement, subtle influencer, or TikTok trend, our individual desire is at risk of being molded to what others want us to want (and spend money on). There have been many instances where I saw an ad for a thing that I actually needed like a coffee table and the ad completely convinced me that “yes, this is the one I desire!” But after I pause and step back, I realize… uh, no this thing they want me to buy is actually not me.
This is why tuning into individual desire is so valuable for enriching quality of life and caring for money. When we know what we desire, independent of what others want us to want, we get to be more fully ourselves and plan to spend money on those things that help us be more ourselves.
It’s been helpful for me to write down lists of things I like and am drawn to independent of what anyone has told me. This coupled with tuning into the reflections of loved ones when they point out things that make them think of me or that they think I’d like because they know me well, has helped me stay connected to who I am and how I want to invest my resources to become more me.
Try: Pay attention to the things you desire as you go through the day. Make note of where the desire is coming from — is it from within you or from someplace else?
When caring for money is simply a practice of understanding our needs and desires, then using money is a means of living into those values.
May we all be more ourselves, regardless of the number in our bank account.
With Alofa,
Eva