Today it’s snowing in Seattle.
A few weeks ago there were some fall colors remaining before the wind blew into town.
The seasons have shifted. The weather elements have changed. Rain has turned to snow. Water is now frozen crystals falling from the sky. I am craving different things – warm soup, fluffy blankets, fireside chats, and a slower pace.
Lately, I have wondered about ever shifting weather elements and seasons: wind, water, fire, moon cycles, and today, snow! We are people effected by these external changes.
This year – 2010, I have heard many money stories during Excel~a consulting sessions. Some stories speak to the hard realities of people doing their best to use an ever changing medium (money) to find some stability in the ebb and flow of life’s seasons. Other people enjoy a wavy money ride as they feel the shifting movement of money’s flow, capturing the energy for innovative ideas and wide-open thoughts.
I purposefully use the term, “money elements” because it beckons me into an expansive, wondering place. The term leans into anticipated seasonal shifts and welcomes inevitable change. From my experience, fear dissipates in expansive places.
The anticipated seasonal shifts arrive in various ways. Sometimes flooding occurs – when windfalls of money hit life shores from employment bonuses, booming business, and estate settlements. Guiding a flooding force produces different realities and challenges than living with unending financial desperation. And then there’s freezing. When the paralyzing reality of a foreclosed house or a frozen bank account temporarily ceases external ideals of success and hope. Other times, blue money skies are bright and paired with whirling, creative action, forging new marketplace opportunities.All of these examples are attached to people in my mind’s eye. The peoples’ stories remind me that money’s varying elements and seasons need to be talked about, remembered, and noticed. Otherwise, myopic vision sets in and seasonal shifts are blurry and unexplored. Sometimes a frozen bank acount is instilled with fluid activity. Sometimes a business closes its doors.
The winds of change are always blowing
SO, as I watch the big snowflakes outside my office window, what feels important and true today is to realize that money is dynamic, it has seasons, and it does flow and shift across time. Similar to the change from vibrant color to white snow.
As 2010 closes out, I invite you to roll with the shifts, to pause, to wonder, and to reflect across time on your many money stories. What do they tell you? In the pause, I invite you to be counter cultural during this busy holiday time. Not to judge yourself harshly, but instead to realize you are human, malleable, and ever learning. May seasonal shifts – however subtle or drastic – invite you into an expansive quest to learn about the elements of money. What are you learning?
