How money flows in the normal vs natural approach to money and life

In the money and life workshop we distinguish between two fundamental approaches to life - the Normal approach and the Natural approach.

The Normal approach is also called the linear-industrial-mechanistic-money centered approach. It describes the mainstream way that most of us have been educated and socialised to think of money and work. It is normal, but not particularly healthy or wise.

The Natural approach is also called the ecological-circular-life centered approach. It describes the possibility that most of us can glimpse or intuit, but find it hard to live, based on putting what we truly want and care about at the centre of life. Rather than money, and assuming with money will come what we truly care about.

Summary of key elements of the Normal approach to money and life:

• This is what we have been socialised into believing and living – it is our contemporary money story in society. It is thus ‘normal’ – but not ‘natural’. Many unexamined projections keep us on this path.
  
  
• Two key deep beliefs that keep the normal cycle going are:
  • We need to ‘earn’ (or deserve) our living
  • We need to ‘secure’ our existence.
    
    
• We can reflect that we are all given life freely – we did nothing to earn or deserve being here! The idea that life must therefore be earned or deserved can be seen as a historical / modern construction (albeit a compelling one!)
  
  
• Ditto we can see that as long as we are here we are inherently secure – life goes on. And at a given, unknown time, we will die. Hence we are naturally secure and insecure. No amount of money can really alter that deeper truth (even when our beliefs about money and security are very strong).
  
  
• By exploring the unconscious psychology that we hold around money, and integrating lost or hidden parts of ourselves that have become tied up with money ideas, we become freer to follow the life path and embark on the natural cycle.
  

Summary of key elements of the Natural approach to money and life:

• This is ‘natural’ because it reflects more deeply how life, living systems and ecology actually work.  These have all been around very much longer than economics or modern money systems. We have not been socialised to see or trust this, but reflection and observation can help us see this deeper aspect to how life truly works.
  
  
• A key here is recognising multiple connections, feedback loops and relationships on many levels. It is a less linear, and less individualistic and instrumental view of how things work.
  
  
• It is important to realise that our beliefs often determine our experience. The modern view is that our objective experience determines how we then see the world. But the opposite is also true – we experience the world out there based on what we already believe. So in the ‘normal’ logic we notice and emphasise stories of struggle, hardship, running out of resources etc. We may not notice, or not pay attention to examples of the natural cycle in action. There are many examples of people who – living their own life path – are attractive, vital, inspiring, energised etc and thus tend to attract resources and support (including but not only money) towards them. It is good to consider and notice these sorts of examples when you come across them.
  
  
• The basic logic of the natural cycle is that as we embark on our life path as fully as we can – our needs are met – with and without money. There is no guarantee that money will flow towards us (it might of course). But we will open ourselves up to resourcing, support and energy of many kinds. Many stories of the normal cycle (independence, guilt, individuality etc) block us off from noticing and opening to other resources that are out there.
  

Money flows in the Natural cycle:

Currently our culture tends to see money flow towards certain types of activities. This simply reflects the general state of consciousness and awareness around money and value.

A simplified model of conventional ideas around money and value looks like this:

Type of ValueKey AspectsExamplesAesthetic / ExistentialTimeless, both material & often non material, never used up, always holds value.
Nature, wilderness; Wisdom, compassion; Beauty, art;Instrumental / In-useTime limited. Typically (though not always) material. Value holds as long as object / service is functional working and meets perceived need.
A laptop; headphones; A car, bike, (Most) clothes, food  Addictive / CompulsiveExtremely time limited. Valuable for as long as I have a craving / need for it. As soon as craving / need has gone, or if it is not present, value dissipates.
(Many) drugs, ‘Junk’ foods with high addictive but low nutritional value(Some) social media – craving vs. content (?)

At present our society tends to make money flow towards things that provide mainly Instrumental and Addictive Value. Many (though of course not all) people who move more fully onto their life path wish to create Aesthetic and Existential value – they are social innovators, poets, healers, wishing to bring new values into mainstream society in some way. This means that they are choosing to do things that do not presently have significant money flows coming toward them from the mainstream.

It is useful to notice this. There are two main traps that people can get into here if they do not recognise and accept that they are still supported – with and without money. And that they are choosing to create a type of value not necessarily supported by large money flows.

TRAP 1: Compromise / commerciality:

We become obsessed with ways to commercialise and gain monetary returns from our art, spirituality, ecological activities. This can subtly pull us away from our life path. It is important to see that there is no problem at all with making these things commercially successful – if that reflects our path! The problem comes when we set up a tension between the art / practice / life we truly imagine and the one which can bring in the money right now in the current climate.

TRAP 2: Taking it as a sign of failure:

If we believe that money will come when we are doing what we love then what if money does not come? We can watch out for projections / reclamations around failure and success. We must pay attention to deeper and broader qualities – as we live our life path do we feel experientially alive, happy, healthy, in flow, true to ourselves? If so then this is the feedback we need. Because money flows in society reflect current consciousness, we must not assess only money as a sole or key criteria.

Finally it is useful to consider that as more people gradually adopt natural money logics and live their life paths, the flow of money will eventually change as more and more people place value on existential and aesthetic activities. This means that eventually more money will flow towards these things. Whether it does or not for us personally, our individual choices are contributing to a wider, gradually shift in money consciousness and ideas of what is valuable. 

(with grateful acknowledgement to Peter Koenig for the original idea of the three different types of value, and the Normal vs Natural approach to money and life)