Lynne Twist has been involved in the Hunger Project, The Soul of Money Institute, and The Pachamama Alliance. She is the author of the book, “The Soul of Money” and the website soulofmoney.org

Lynne’s premise is that our society focuses on scarcity. We are always working on accumulating for ourselves and it is a belief that we are separate from everyone else. She believes we need to switch to a belief in abundance, which is focusing on having what we have, being thankful and knowing that there is enough for everyone.

She talks about a society from South America that had never used money. But as other countries became interested in what their land had to offer, they became educated in using money. She describes money as energy. And as such, we have the ability to use money to make us happy or unhappy. By using money to support our beliefs and hearts desire, we use the energy as an expression of ourselves.

This got me to thinking about what I would like to spend money on in my life. I love to garden and planting flowers makes me so happy. It makes the area around me look wonderful. I want to plant a vegetable garden and share the bounty with others who do not have a garden.

I would like to purchase products that are “green”. They help us to sustain our environment for our children and their children. It is sometimes more expensive to purchase these items. I have been trying to purchase items that are fair trade.

Recently though, I shopped at a store that sells all fair trade goods from all over the world. There were many handicrafted items and the prices were a steal. The store is not for profit which lowers the overhead compared to a for profit store. I purchased a basket from Kenya for $10.00. Having made baskets and visited basket makers here in the US, I was shocked at the low price.

How much could this basket weaver possibly be making. It sparked a discussion between my friends and I. They argued that it could be a lot of money to this family. I argued that to make money they may be having the kids spend all day making baskets. How do we know that fair trade is equitable trade or is it just a stamp on a product that promotes child labor? And if we think that woman or family is better off now because they can afford a bag of rice or a bag of beans that they are better off then I ask, what is better off?

I found a site which promotes ending poverty in other nations with equitrade, http://www.equitrade.org/ In the long run, I suppose that goods that we import would become more expensive as trades become more equitable.

We all have different organizations that we support. “The Soul of Money” is a book that helps us to think about how spending money is really an extension of who we are and what we believe.

I hope you get a chance to check out her site,
Blessings, Eileen