Money. Cold hard cash. Moolah. We strive for it, obsess about it, and work hard for it. At times, I worry that I have too little and at times that I have too much. I enjoy spending it but then feel guilty for being extravagant. It feels good to save it, but I also wonder if I should spend now and worry about the future later. I can equate my worth to my paycheck, even though my intellect tells me that shouldn’t be the case.
We tend to think of money as a measure of value – one that is universal, objective and rational. In reality, money is fraught with emotion, subtle messaging, and shadow meanings.
In our heart, we know the sole pursuit of money is a fool’s errand – how many stories end badly after a life of chasing gold? How many studies show us that money and happiness are not related? How many mega-lottery winners find themselves in the same straits just a few short years after their windfall?
We generally make the currency of money the primary measuring stick for so many things – value, importance, effort, ease. In my work as a director of Indiana Voice of Women, we’ve begun exploring how to expand beyond using money as a measuring stick. Based on the work of Ethan Roland and Gregory Landau, we are framing our resource discussions around eight forms of currency.
The Eight Forms of Currency
I find this model helpful in several ways. It gives me balance since it identifies many forms of currencies I possess, like those that belong to social capital and intellectual capital. It puts financial capital and its currency, money, in perspective as one of many rather than the sole measure of worth. Plus, it reinforces just how much I do have: friends & colleagues, a home with great gardens, knowledge and skills, a faith community and a cultural heritage. And oh – a few bucks saved away for a rainy day!
So, I’m curious. How do you measure value? What currency do you focus on? What might happen if you measured worth on eight dimensions rather than just one?
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One Response
Good article. Money is the one of the most reference topic in the Bible. I agree with the other forms of capital. Spiritual and Social are big ones for me.