It’s the time of year for canning, fermenting, dehydrating, and seed saving, and it all has me reflecting on the concept of wealth. Over two decades ago, I lived on a very tiny, remote island in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean. There, my neighbors and I relied mostly on what we could fish, grow, and gather. And having lived for generations on this tiny island, they had a lot to say about what they called “the life of money” in the United States and other "developed" countries.
While their lack of running water or electricity made them appear, to some, as in a significant wealth deficit, the reality is that they are more free than I am today. My reliance on money to pay my mortgage, to power my home, to feed my family drains any authentic wealth I can wrap my life around. Instead, the balances of my bank accounts have distracted me for decades as I chased a manufactured notion of economic stability. I am more economically stable now than I have ever had the privilege to be in my entire life, but I am not wealthy nor am I free.
What makes me feel wealthy and free nowadays are moments spent pulling dried beans or peas for seed saving. When I get to use multiple cubic yards of compost that has been made over the past year from our waste, I can feel the radiance of abundance.
I am so far from escaping “the life of money.” The testimonies and instructional videos from folks who’ve moved far away for off-grid life are inspiring, and… my life context just doesn’t quite allow for that right now. Instead though, I look for decisions I can make to divest little by little from “the life of money” One concrete example has been the tightening our family’s spending belt so that I could go from working full time to .8. This has allowed me to invest a little more time and energy into building the wealth that feels real: an abundant harvest, a pantry filling with preserved foods, a stash of worm castings and compost that I won’t have to buy the next time I need them.
It’s not a move to a far-off piece of land to start a full-on homestead, but these gradually increasing moves to divest from a life of money and invest in a new wealth have offered a growing peace in my soul.
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