Our Real Wealth & How We Measure Success
- Karen Tate
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
What is our real wealth and how do we measure our success? Are both different in a patriarchal/capitalism oriented versus an egalitarian or Sacred Feminine focused world?
Let’s talk a little about our bounty, our riches, and our good fortune. Then examine how we measure our success -
Do you play the lottery? I used to play regularly. We think if we just made more money or had some kind of windfall it will make our lives better. We even say when we do prosperity rituals, let the riches comes from whatever source the Universe or Goddess might provide, as long as it harms none and it’s best for all concerned. But let’s look at this a bit closer.
What are our real riches, bounty, and good fortune? The operative word being real. Where do the real riches come from? What’s the source?
I recently learned that Lakshmi, Hindu Goddess of bounty in all things, is often seen on Indian banks and some Hindu families will refer to their wife or daughter as their Lakshmi. In other words, the women in their families embody their good fortune. Sometimes families without girl children will invite female relatives to live with them to bring the bounty of Lakshmi into their lives.
What about intellectual curiosity and knowledge? Certainly that’s our bounty, especially knowledge that comes from herstory or Goddess Spirituality:
For instance, we learn in male-dominated society we define power as power over others and the desire to control. But we learn in Women’s Studies, within Goddess Spirituality, that’s not a healthy definition of power . In fact, we might discuss if power over is bounty at all. What a double edged sword that is. Real bounty comes not from having power over, but the confidence in oneself and real power for oneself. This reduces the need to have power over others or to control them. We don’t have to diminish others to assert our own strength. What a bounty it is to know the distinction of this important concept and work toward creating a society using that ideal!
We know that many Goddess temples of the ancient world were centers of financial power and were presided over by priestesses, even though today most of the financial institutions of our society are still presided over by men. It’s important to know women once wielded the bounty of the people. Foremother and scholar, Barbara Walker teaches that silver and gold coins were valuable not because they were made of precious metals that came from the earth, from the body of Gaia, but because the coins were believed to be blessings from the Goddess herself which were believed to bring good fortune and healing magic, making money a magical invention! Let’s consider the Goddess, Juno Moneta. It’s interesting that Moneta means She Who Gives Warning. Could it be a veiled warning about greed and materialism? That’s a perfect segue for the rest of what I want to share with you.
Coming back to the lottery, some of you may have heard anecdotal evidence for lottery winners being cursed. I know Kabbalah teaches something not earned cannot bring you long-term good fortune. I’m not saying life isn’t easier with money, but again, money is a double edged sword. When you have a lot of it, you have to wonder if your friends and family love you or your money. Look at the care you have to take to keep it and grow it and not be robbed. Someone I’ve known a long time has been a good teacher for me on this subject. The man is rich. His father is richer. Has a huge house in Beverly Hills, CA with more solar panels on it than the apartment complex where I once lived. This rich man is constantly paranoid someone is trying to steal from him or con him. He spends every waking hour running the family business, keeping the money flowing in, looking for ways to cut corners to increase his wealth. He has no life. I pity him because he rarely seems happy. I would describe him as trapped by his wealth.
You might say, well, that’s just what people who don’t have a lot of money say. They marginalize money. Well, I think it’s about balance. I think we need enough money, but we need to know when enough is enough, otherwise it turns into greed. Perhaps greed is even a symptom of a mental disorder. Kabbalah studies can be very interesting here. In their teachings you learn you should desire more and more, but not for yourself. The abundance is really to make the lives of others better. In fact, giving is your security. Giving and sharing is your “ticket” to being safe in a dangerous world. Your blessings, your bounty, comes to you when you give to others, in fact, they think if you give until it hurts - your time, your care, the benefit of your skills, you get even more bounty or good fortune.
So let’s think about bounty beyond money. What floats your boat? What makes you feel rich, happy and fulfilled?
Personally, I’ve come to know for myself, things do not make me happy, nor do they help me feel fulfilled. I’ll confide that I was married to my highschool sweetheart early on, in my twenties, I already had a house and two cars and as much money as I needed and my husband was a nice guy, but that was not my bounty. I was not happy or fulfilled. I was yearning, seeking, empty and unfulfilled. There was a hole in me I filled with doing ceramics, raising spider plants, all sorts of things to keep me busy - distracted. I don’t even think I was consciously aware of the hole in me. I know I just never felt ful-filled. I had what everyone strives for, didn’t I? I had what everyone says is what we should want out of life.
Fast forward. Life is very different now. My husband, Roy, and I have been married almost 40+ years. Having the right partner in my life has been the foundation for my bounty. He's been the wind beneath my wings as they say. I could make more money working in corporate America but I don’t. I’ve traded making more money for quality of life. Finding Goddess and sharing those ideals, being in service to the Great She, to the community, is probably the most nourishing thing I do, next to learning and being with those I love and having women who challenge my thinking and ideas. This is my purpose. I think getting older and having experience, acquiring some wisdom has also contributed to my riches and good fortune because I have liberated myself from worrying so much about what people say and think about me and I no longer feel I have to be perfect in everything I do. I am what I am and I'm enough. I just have to do my best. When my cats come up and sit next to me, with one on each arm of my chair, they make me feel like I’m Cybele sitting on my throne. Or when someone emails me thanking me for doing my radio show because it’s their life-line, these are the kinds of things that help me know I’m rich.
I'm reminded of the teachings of the German psychologist Erich Fromm. He talks about having versus being. He suggests and I believe it's not our bank account that determines our wealth but who we are in the world. Are we in service? What kind of human are we?
So these are some examples of what I’d say are my riches. What are yours? What is your purpose? That’s important to think about because how often do you hear about someone retiring from their job and they drop dead because they have nothing to live for. Their purpose has ended. Or they win the lottery and they get arrogant, stop caring, drop out, stop relating, and don’t make wise investments in their life - and I’m not just talking about money. They become an empty vessel. How many people think gold, diamonds, drugs, alcohol, sex, even food will fill that gaping hole inside of them? Does the latest computer or gadget fulfill you? What about designer shoes or clothes? A new car every year? Do they fulfill you? But for how long? Is it real fulfillment? Or is it fool’s gold? Does that brief glimpse of happiness fade?
What fills your vessel to overflowing? Is it good friends? Supportive family? Great conversation? Making discoveries? Going to the ocean and feeling at one with the ebb and flow of the Mother? Laying in the grass looking up at the sky? Maybe it’s music, or learning? Being appreciated or helping others? Debating a concept? Your lover’s warm embrace? Cool sheets on a Spring morning? Satisfaction from a goal satisfied?
What feeds you? That’s your real riches and bounty. That’s what will bring you good fortune. Remember Joseph Campbell said “Follow your bliss.” Follow your bliss and riches will flow.
Most importantly, when you find what feeds you, Goddess teaches you to nurture and tend to those things, just like you tend a garden. Tend your friendships. Nurture the things that fulfill you. Whatever it is that makes you feel rich, don’t neglect it. If you’re finding yourself feeling empty, at a loss, poor - then maybe you haven’t been tending your life’s garden. As I remind listeners on my radio show, Nature, Gaia herself teaches us, what we tend to and nurture thrives. What we neglect withers and we’re left with nothing and that’s real poverty.
Which brings me to how do we measure our success?
I've been thinking about that a lot. Patriarchy and capitalism suggests unless we've made a big splash it's not worth much. Was the result loud, big, and profitable? Did it bring fame, recognition and attention? Is the Sacred Feminine version of success different? Might it be much more quiet? Might the success be the seeds you've planted and fertilized even if you might never know what sprouted? Or the lives you've changed that perhaps you've never met. Can success be the ease you brought to someone's life or the smile that you offered that picked up someone's day? The love you shared. The kind or supportive word. Have you challenged hungry minds? Spoken uncomfortable but necessary truths? Might you measure your success by the service you provide your community? Imagine if we were all striving to accumulate those kinds of successes instead of material wealth. Gratitude might also inspire feelings of success when you begin to count all your blessings.
I know years back when I announced I had to "go off the grid" for awhile I received dozens of emails from people I had no idea were following my writing and my podcast. There were offers of help, suggestions and advice for healing and an outpouring of appreciation. It really made me think about true success. I think Covid-19 was another catalyst for reflection. Who were the people keeping the shelves in the grocery stores filled and the deliveries coming? Who were the people working in hospitals to save lives sometimes without personal protective equipment? Those people were our lifelines - not the hedge-fund managers, the billionaires, famous athletes or celebrities.
So, to conclude, we are probably all rich. We just have to focus on defining what our bounty and riches are and what’s the source of our good fortune. Then perhaps redefine how we measure our success and examine who is really making a difference in our lives and if we're making a difference to others. This shift in thinking can change the world.
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