Some time back, I had the privilege of being featured in an article in the local newspaper. The piece's focus Enough Already looked at my changed lifestyle to one of simpler pleasures -- a change to a more personally fulfilling life despite a reduction in annual income and spending. In the interview I had said my goal was to reduce annual expenses to about $10,000 Canadian. (I up that figure a few thousand for today's more expensive world.)
The newspaper piece led to an invitation by a local morning radio talk show host to "appear" on his broadcast. Unfortunately, the whole focus of the interview (albeit a short one) was money. Was it true I lived on $10,000 per year? (No, not yet.) Was I looking for a job? (Not actively looking as I do have work, but would consider a more consistent source of income.) How could I live in this admittedly expensive city on so little? (Not that hard when you want to do it.)
Not one question in the interview asked about my personal satisfaction with my current lifestyle, not one question about whether I felt my life was better now than when I had a larger income. (Overall, much better although there are still areas for improvement.) The tone: Money, not lifestyle or satisfaction level, is still the measure of success.
This incident showed me that MONEY remains a major influence on our lives. (I use the word money in its largest sense as a token which has value set on it by society beyond the value of the material comprising it: coin, paper note, electronic entry in a bank or local currency accounting system, etc.) In our complex society the influence of money cannot be ignored -- whether we willingly change our income status or expenses level; whether or not that change results in a more fulfilling life.
Money means many different things to people. To Benjamin Franklin writing in Poor Richard's Almanac: "Time is money." To Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin in Your Money or Your Life, money is life energy. To some it is status; to others, freedom. I have called it fertilizer. It can be a burden or a god-send. It can control us or it can serve us.
This issue of Living Gently Quarterly focuses on the subject of Money -- not the typical media treatment of how to get more of it, but a look at how to become more in control of it and, consequently, of our lives. Although we will look at it from several different viewpoints, the Living Gently Philosophy on money firmly believes that Money is Life Energy. Money is a token which we receive in exchange for our life energy. What is most important, we believe, is what we get in return for our dollars (or pounds or marks or yen or....). Is that return fulfilling and satisfying? Does it further our life goals, does its acquisition and use conform with our personal principles of life, or does it have a negative impact in the long-term: for example, by saddling us with debt and expectations of more?
I cannot say how the articles in this issue will affect you. We each will answer those questions differently. There is no right answer, only our answer. But, I do hope that when you are finished reading this issue, you will see money differently than you did before.
Simplifying our financial picture does not mean living in poverty or deprivation. Although we may eliminate some things or a variety of wants from our life, we can replace them with richness and quality living in those areas we choose. We replace the more is better philosophy with a knowledge of what is enough for us. Often when we reach our first level of enough, we find we can further ratchet down our expenses to a slightly lower level, continuing the easing down process until we reach our optimum comfort level. "Recognizing what is enough," Jacqueline Blix and David Heitmiller tell us, "is the key to getting a life."
Even though my personal dreams have never been about those big ticket items money can buy -- fancy cars, expensive clothes or jewelry, big house filled with designer furniture and pricey art works -- I now see money in a different light than I did five or ten years ago. My focus in earning a living -- beyond providing the basic necessities of life for my family -- has always been to allow me the opportunity to live in close proximity to, and learn from and about, the natural world. And as I simplify my financial needs, I increase the quality of my appreciation of nature.
I am still refining my relationship with money. I still have more questions than I have answers, still deciding how much life energy and life time to invest in earning more of it. If I were again to earn a high income, I now think I could actually further reduce my expenses. (The biggest category of expenses for me is housing, and by having a steady, higher income, I could buy a home which should be cheaper than my current rent.)
And at times, I still wonder if I am fully in control. But I remember that true change doesn't often happen overnight, for if we attempt change too quickly and become discouraged, we may induce a rebound that leaves us in a worse state. Fundamental change happens best when we properly prepare the soil in which the seeds of change are planted. I not only sow, I also nourish the change and create new avenues of satisfaction to replace those discarded.
Still, questions remain for me. Am I money-centered? Am I making a life or making a living? Is my attitude toward money bringing me fulfillment or just more problems? Am I wasting valuable life time in the pursuit of money and the dream of Someday, I'll...? In the end, which is more important: money or my life? I hope you will ask yourself similar questions.