2/22/11—Contemplating Affluence

Today's Draw: Nine of Pentacles from the Spiral Tarot. What are your beliefs around affluence? What does it buy you? Happiness? Freedom? Headaches? What are your aspirations when it comes to money?

 

The Nine of Pentacles usually depicts a well-off person who has no trouble making money or securing things on the material plane. And they usually look quite happy about that. But does the happiness come from the prosperity? Or does the pro...sperity emanate from the passion and happiness of creating something of value?

When I formed the mission statement of my business fifteen years ago, I purposely made sure money wasn't a part of it. It was all about getting a wide variety of work, clients I felt good about and fueling my passion for my work. As a result, I've never made a big decision in my business based on money and have, in fact, moved on from my biggest clients a few times based on the way I felt about working with them.

When it HAD to come down to a choice between money and happiness, I chose happiness every time. Of course, the two aren't mutually exclusive. You can have both. And it's only happened once that I've been desperate for work, but turned it down because of who I'd have to work for. So, to be honest, my choices really haven't been tested on the eat/don't eat scale.

But I think all that reflects my attitudes toward money. I certainly don't want to worry about where my next meal is coming from, but I'm not shooting for Oprah wealth. As far as I'm concerned, money only buys freedom when it truly buys freedom. When having money places responsibilities on you...takes you away from the things you love or requires some sort of management and concern...then what's the point? I'm happy being middle class. And while I wouldn't turn down opportunities to enhance my bank account, I wouldn't do it at the cost of anything I hold dear—my integrity, my time with my babies, my mental health or my happiness. I like buying crap, don't get me wrong. But crap is crap. It's not what really matters to me.