Back when I
taught at the community college, I would make occasional references to “Liz
World.” It might happen when the class discussed a tragic event, or
something close to my students’ hearts, like the burden of student loans. I’d say, “That wouldn’t happen in Liz World.”
Students would pipe up that they’d rather live in my world, and we’d all have a
little chuckle.
It’s a hot
Friday afternoon, so I won’t go over old ground. You’ve heard enough of my
journey to realize that Liz World has actually rarely been easy. I have just
about the worst connection with money (or the desire for it, per se) of
anyone I have ever met. I should never have been let out into the world alone! The
good news is that I think I figured out “why” a while back, but am only
beginning to have the courage to articulate it.
I don’t
know how it is possible, but I think I have experienced a future construct beyond
capitalism or communism. Truly, I feel like I “remember” a time when a wise and
sophisticated human culture had no need to use money at all, because they
didn’t fear the future. It wasn’t
necessary to “keep score” about worth any more. Society nurtured each human being
just simply because they had had the courage to be born. People didn’t have to
“earn” the right to live. People’s “work” was to discover what they loved to do,
then to do it, period. People of all levels of motivation, functionality and
skill were loved, supported, and encouraged. The profit motive was unnecessary
because society’s overall motivation was joy and joy alone. When you did something great
for someone else, they thanked you. When
they helped you, you thanked them. People loved turning around and doing more for the next person, just because. The
essentials were performed by people who loved doing them (building sewers or
electrical grids) -- or our human ingenuity found easier, more enjoyable ways
of accomplishing them so that there was more time for following our passions. Everyone just chipped in. In this paradigm, people were
loved and the earth was loved. There was no “price to pay.” There was no
competition. Everyone felt rich. I have to say, I sure liked it a lot.
Ah well,
you say, Liz World doesn’t exist. True. Not yet. And maybe not in the near
future. But I wholeheartedly believe it
is coming. Meanwhile, I intend to open
my heart to a larger set of options, and to new ways of loving whatever I do
while helping the world move forward. I
intend to keep seeking out really progressive
thinkers and creators. If people, jobs or situations are too hard for me to
love, may I bless them, turn around and gravitate toward love and joy. I intend
not to lose heart about my own dreams, or how hard it has been to relate to money. I am so thankful that I have had the courage to try to model
a new way of operating, even if it doesn’t quite work yet. However imperfectly, love is now my real currency; for now, may love be involved every
time money flows in to or out from me. Maybe
once a few of us break the ice, such a way of life will get easier and easier.
