Consciousness
and Money
by Ruth Ross,
Ph.D.
Everything
reflects our consciousness, and there is little value in
staying in the consciousness of poverty.
Prosperity has
had only one connotation for too long -- money. The subject of
money has a powerful emotional charge, equivalent to the
subject of sex. Yet, we will usually talk about it only like
the weather -- in general economic terms. In this age of open
discussion on homosexuality, menstruation, and incest, it is
interesting that we are still very closed in what we reveal
about our money. The subject of our inner feelings concerning
money is one of the last things to come out of the closet.
Why?
When we think
of having money, we think of opportunities for independence,
leisure, privacy, time to do and act as we wish.
Unfortunately, a lack of money translates into yet another
reason to put ourselves down.
We have built
a complex of myths and voodoo around the idea of money as an
entity -- an end in itself. We have personified it, and
attributed characteristics to it as if it were a savior. How
many times have we said, "If only I had enough
money!" At the same time, we have created a concept of
money as an active, negative agent. We have done this through
our conscious and unconscious myths which support a negative
morality system about what money does to people. We end up
both desiring and fearing money
I can remember
a time when I didn't want to talk about money, or even think
about it. I felt squeamish asking for money due to me. And in
establishing a price for anything, I always hoped that somehow
the other person just "knew" how much was fair so we
would not have to discuss it. I even fancied what it would be
like to live in a community of total barter so no money would
have to be exchanged.
It wasn't
until later that I found out I wasn't alone -- many people are
uneasy when they must receive, ask for, and speak of money.
Fortunately, there are different ways of looking at money what
it is and isn't, what it can and can't do. Examining our
concepts of money can open up issues concerning giving and
taking that are important in all aspects of our lives.
Self-Esteem
and Money
The basis for
understanding and being comfortable with money is just one
more aspect of our self-awareness. For example, from repeated
studies in human behavior, we know that one of the factors by
which we judge ourselves and others is money -- how much we
make, how we make it, and how we spend it. This constitutes
part of our market value. To many of us, then, speaking of
income is really speaking of our value in society
When we have a
low self-image, we sometimes try to compensate for these
feelings both by trying to increase our value and by trying to
keep this value hidden. We want to avoid facing a low opinion
from others if our value figure is not as high as we think it
should be.
An example of
wanting to hide our value is deciding not to invite people to
dinner because we have only mismatched glasses and china. When
we are devaluing ourselves because of a lack of money, we may
feel ashamed at gatherings of friends of family who talk about
travel, shopping, or prestigious colleges for the kids. We may
put ourselves down because we don't have the money to shop or
travel, or because our kids are only going to work, instead of
college.
The
Morality of Money
The
self-esteem and money issue is further confused by the rather
shaky image of what having that green stuff means. Although
everyone wants more money, the idea of having wealth is
tainted. On one side of the coin, money is thought to be
highly desirable; on the other side, it is considered bad and
almost dirty.
Most of the
cultural arguments that make prosperity a moral issue are
never made out loud. The ideas that we can't or shouldn't be
financially prosperous are projected subliminally in the form
of myths or beliefs. Whether we live it or not, one of our
strong beliefs is that hard work and toil are rewards in and
of themselves. It is also part of our tradition that poverty
is a virtue. Certain religious teachings from the Bible have
even been interpreted as confirming that poverty is somehow
holy.
For example,
the biblical passage, "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," has been frequently
quoted to condemn wealth and praise poverty. With better
understanding of the old Arabic translations, however, new
interpretation among biblical scholars shows that the original
intention of this and other passages was positive.
With new
research, we now know the word poor originally meant humble
and receptive, not poverty-stricken. To receive is to open
oneself to one's vulnerability -- to let go of control. The
message seems to have been that the world is full of givers;
what we need to learn is to receive -- to open ourselves to
our vulnerability
Other biblical
passages, such as, "It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of heaven," have been used to prove that being
wealthy is morally wrong. According to modern-day scholars,
this passage originally referred not to having money itself
but rather to the difficulties inherent when we are controlled
by our possessions rather than being in control of them.
Everything
reflects our consciousness, and there is little value in
staying in the consciousness of poverty. Someone has remarked
that the best thing we can do for the poor is not to be one of
them. This is not being unloving. It is a statement of not
accepting poverty as inevitable. Poverty helps no one.
Other biblical
passages point out another, more prosperous attitude toward
life:
Environmental
support for the negative attitudes we hold about wealth is
found in cliches we often hear repeated:
-
Money is
the root of all evil.
-
Money
won't buy you happiness.
-
Easy come,
easy go.
-
I may be
poor, but I'm happy
I'm sure you
can recite many more. They imply that not only is there
something wrong with money, but, by implication, there may be
a lot more wrong with you if you have it!
Continued
on the next page:
What is Money Really?;
Loving Money;
Money as Power;
Money as Responsibility;
Prosperity Key.
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