Meaning and money 🤑

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Two vignettes to share with you this week about love. Think of them as a cooling sprinkle to your busy mind.


"I was just there, holding still this beautiful being in my hand. It was the most surreal hour of my life".
A father recently shared with me the moment he held his daughter in his hands right after she was born. I couldn't imagine what it must be, but I could feel the richness of the moment through his relishing voice and dreamy face.
He then recounted the arduous journey of their father-daughter relationship and ended with a loving laugh. "With all that teenager troubles and rebellion, I still love her".

Two reflections 1) His daughter is a good friend of mine. Of course, her father doesn't want her to know this is what he said. 2) I wish every child could hear that from their father.
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"Are you in love?" asked another friend recently.
"Since when am I out of it?" I heard myself saying

Boom. Sometimes when quips like that happen, I'm in awe. Where does that line come from? The clever and tautological answer is "from the love that I'm in".
Alain de Botton wrote in Why Flirting Matters: "We flirt because we like the person we are becoming in the flirting: charming, generous, imaginative." In that sense, adopting a flirtatious attitude to life seems like a lovely choice :-)

Join me for a virtual Thanksgiving?

Ok, enough of cheesy vignettes, now for some real cheese on the table: Let's do an online party this holiday season!
I've been dreaming about bringing different friends together for so long. Moreover, I always believe we have a lot to learn from each other's various pursuits. I've got a prompt to get us started "How is your life strange, and how are you navigating it?"
Times: Friday 24th Nov, 12-115p EST.
Sunday 26th Nov, 12-115p EST.
Link: Zoom

We may also go into smaller group chat (thx technology!) so be prepared to talk to an intimate stranger.
Bring Your Own Drink. We will sing & dance virtually. Plz send me a note so I know you are coming!

Money and meaning

It's all about the money money money this week!
Money is probably one of the biggest modern construction human societies have created, a topic worth a deep dive into, both intellectually and personally. The post of this week is an ongoing attempt - let me know what thoughts it sprouts in you. I've attached an excerpt below.

Embodied money

Another reliable method to re-infuse meaning way to anything too abstract is to embody it. When it comes to money, the physical note is a good place to start.

One time, my mom caught me sniffing a bill (No I wasn’t rolling a joint or anything.. out of curiosity only) and she yelled “Don’t do it! It’s dirty. Do you know how many hands have that note been to?”

For context, she also worked as a bank clerk, and everyday she had to carry bags of money from the main branch to various ATMs. She didn’t count one bill by one bill but ten of them at once, without any mistake for twenty something years. If anyone deals with money at the most physical level, it’s my mom.

Her words stayed with me, perhaps not for the reason she intended. Money, in its physical form or as a digital number, could and perhaps should remind us of how connected we are. We all participate in this great flow of energy (“currency” borrows the electricity metaphor of “current”) and as such, we re all dirty anyway. Which is why any legit “spiritual journey” should involve a lot of monetary exchanges. Take that, spiritual purists who claim the sacredness of all things BUT money. Who knows that sniffing a bill can be such a non-LSD spiritual experience?

You can take this suggestion of embodied money further by musing on the sexual experience of money.

Some monetary exchanges feel like a quickie. Like buying a drink from a vendor machine or swiping your card at the grocery. Some are like an one night stand. Quick, hot, but perhaps not a lot of intimacy.

For example, I just got my monthly paycheck yesterday. Looking at the time sheet with the hours and the tasks done, I started reminiscing. It was well-earned money with some emotional highlights here and there, from joy to boredom to frustration. Nothing made me feel like “pouring my soul out” though, and don’t really want to look back on it.

In contrast, other monetary interactions are slow, sensuous and intimate. Last month, I made $1.23 on Medium for a short story on my addiction with time (which I ironically spent too many hours on). I know the contour of that piece inside out, and I could even sense its shape as I wrote it. Receiving that $1.23 compensation made it taste even better.

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See the full post here on Medium.

Sharing is sprouting.