Show Me The Money: Abundance, Holism and the New Economy
by Cris McCullough, M.A., C.P.H.C.

What is the natural flow of abundance in your life? You might begin to answer that question by noting what kind of car you drive, how much money you have in your pocket or in the bank, or how you rate on "the ladder of success." Or you might count the number of friends you have, the sense of contentment you feel after a hard days work or the amount of time you spend with your kids.  Obviously the idea of "abundance" can mean different things to different people, yet, initially we think of it in terms of money.

Think about that word, "abundance." Quite frankly, we can have an abundance of almost anything... an abundance of weight, pain, tears, or negativity just as easily as we can manifest an abundance of good fortune. We can ask for abundance, but without definition or intent we leave ourselves open to a realm of opportunity, some good and some bad, without taking actual responsibility for what we ask.

So is abundance about money? We assume the two terms are the same. Money, after all, is simply  an exchange of energy made manifest in an agreed upon material currency. Abundance, on the other hand, is—to quote Shakti Gawain—"the experience of having enough of what we truly need and want in life on all levels."

Experience is a process linking us to the web of existence since prosperity can occur on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. We can feel poor, think we are poor, attach our happiness to a preconceived measure of wealth or, indeed, be impoverished of Spirit. Thinking, feeling, attachment and impoverishment are ways-of-being created by our unconscious mind. To truly experience abundance we must begin a conscious relationship with money.

Money is not in and of itself evil, but it is a shadow, an illusion, a form of reality. In a recent interview, Bernard Lietaer, fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resources (University of California, Berkeley), spoke of our western monetary system as one based on a fundamental paradigm of scarcity. "Bank-debt money," says Lietaer, "keeps its value only by being kept artificially scarce. Fear becomes the incentive to accumulate money against a condition of lack."

But Lietaer points out that since this system was invented, then a new system, a new paradigm has been invented which can work on a more holistic basis. A currency system based on sustainable abundance would involve agreed upon exchanges of goods and services with a chit or currency system as a way of keeping track of the fair exchange of labor or goods. Here in the USA, Ithaca, New York created one such system called "Ithaca hours" in 1991, while similar systems were created in Japan and Brazil to support the local ecology and to provide needed community services, an exchange of labor for goods (see "Reinventing Money: An Interview with Bernard Lietaer", The Inner Edge Magazine, June/July 1999).  In other words, these  communities created a complementary, cooperative currency system that created the experience of additional wealth, work and a safety net below, or in addition to, the official monetary system.

As we move into the year 2000, banks and the Federal Reserve have proceeded to assure us that they are Y2K compliant. But we now live in a global economy which needs to become a more fully global community. No one country can be sustained in isolation. The open door of opportunity of last year's Y2K challenge, and the looming recession of this new millennium, teaches us to realistically look at and plan for a move to a new type of sustainable economic system which is inclusive and community oriented. This "back-up" system working in complement to our existing economic paradigm can be a safety net to encourage community and relationship in the 21st century.

Abundance may indeed be an inalienable right of all human beings when what we share is a concern for our neighbor and a willingness to give that which we all possess, love.

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Cris McCullough is a Certified Professional Holistic Counselor at THERAPEIA: Integrative Counseling Associates in Newport, R.I. ; "Show Me The Money: A  Practical Prosperity Workshop is being offered  Feb. 24 and 25  to register call 401-847-6551. For more information on creating complementary currencies check out: www.transaction.net/money.