Spring 2022 Newsletter
A Message from Jerry
Dear Friends,
In our last newsletter I took some time to reflect on the macro or big picture regarding money, finance and how the wider world frames the context and limit of our understanding of money energy. I want to continue with a few more macro musings.
Often, this financial frame or context imposed by the wider world, if left un-interrogated, conditions the largely invisible assumptions we inherit and carry with us for our entire lifetime. Our family of origin economics are also among the most significant aspects of our identity that we absorb from early childhood. This is why we encourage you to have regular conversations around what shapes your concept of value.
Given the significance that money has in our lives most people, if asked, would be hard pressed to describe what money essentially IS. We are more familiar with the “what’s” and “how’s” of currency, but rarely know how to distinguish currency from money. So, let’s unpack that.
Currency is the result or product of an agreement. Anything can be currency; labor, vegetables, time, expertise, you get the picture. There is a story from the pages of American History that illustrates this really well. In 1626, the First Nation Lenape tribe “sold” Manhattan Island to the Dutch for what has come to be known as $24.00. Hmmm…so one could own Manhattan Island for $24? As they say on the lower East Side, “Such a deal!” This dollar valuation is, of course, an equivalent value based on the Dutch guilder. The actual currency, however that was exchanged (according to the story) was “beads and trinkets.” So, the island was in fact purchased with currency because Dutch guilders (money) held no value for the sellers.
When we confuse currency with money we often lose the magical and creative quality of money. Where is this “magic”? It is in recognizing that “value” is changing hands, but so much more is embedded in that exchange. The magic of the greater system is inherent in every monetary transaction. Life needs are being met through each exchange, and each exchange exists within a greater circulatory process that is the very essence of human economy and of LIFE ITSELF. When the magic of money radiates its presence through currency, the power of creativity, of bringing something into being out of nothing, lives. Our very lives depend on this grand circulation of energy and value.
Human beings, however, almost instantly become mundane and practical when it comes to money/currency and the need for accuracy. Whether we are reduced by the stress of daily subsistence (as are many people) or in the midst of abundance, we easily lose connection with the existential reality of what the circulation of currency/money serves. We take it for granted like we take breathing and our heartbeat for granted. However, just as the blood of our circulatory system carries the mineral nutrients and oxygen to each cell of our bodies, so money/currency carries the life forces that enliven the larger structures of our society and civilization.
The elaborate system of credits and debits that has evolved to track the constantly changing balances of myriad account values is what we call accounting. With apologies to accountants, much of the deep significance of money energy is often lost as money in most accounting circles has been reduced to transactions, sums, balances, and finite numbers.
I invite you to reflect on this. Perhaps a ray of light that endures within the substance of money itself will emerge for you, and help you encounter the magic of this macro financial picture. I have much more to discuss with you about the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of money, the mystery and magic of money, and how to elevate its meaning in your own life to the realm of its origin. But, I will save those musings for the next newsletter.
I will end here with a gentle reminder that our task is not to predict the markets; which is, in any environment, impossible. Our task is to help prepare each of you to meet the ever-present uncertainty of life with knowledge and confidence. If we follow our financial plans our material life goals can be met, perhaps with sufficient extra to extend beyond ourselves to our families and the larger world. As ever, here’s to your good wealth!
Aloha,
Jerry
Please click below to read our full Winter 2022 Newsletter, including messages from Bernard & Kim.
