FREE standard SHIPPING on North American Orders over $100 --- CLICK TO SIGN UP FOR 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER.

The Value of a Dime and Me

This month’s blog was inspired by a charged discussion that captured my attention recently. The topic of the conversation was about how people felt about charging money for spiritual work. It began as a comment about overcharging and grew to whether people should be charging AT ALL. It is such a BIG topic that I almost don’t know where to begin. But I must start somewhere so here goes …

I’ll begin by saying that the comments in this blog are my opinion. I understand that we each must honour our own beliefs and stating my opinion, doesn’t mean I’m judging anyone else’s. I offer mine here in case it will be of interest or of value. And speaking of value, that is really what this discussion is about. We’re speaking about self worth. Money and value often get intermingled but they are 2 separate things.

So we pose the question: As light workers, do we charge money for our work and if so, how much do we charge. But perhaps the question should be: Why do we feel uncomfortable charging for our services?

Let’s look at them both and see where we end up.

So first … do we charge money for our work?

There are those who believe that spiritual gifts should be given freely without payment. And interestingly, those who feel this way are both the ones offering the gifts and the ones receiving them. If we go along with that, we must ask the question of what constitutes a spiritual gift. Are we speaking of energy workers, people who make products designed for healing and ceremony, spiritual councillors, religious advisors, and the like? Who should be obligated to give their services to the world without payment?

In my world, we are all on a spiritual path and so the all the gifts we share are of a spiritual nature. It’s just that we each give of ourselves in different ways. Is the admin job, the lawyer, or the baker any less a spiritual work than the making of handcrafts for ceremony, running a spiritual workshop, or hands on energy work. What about the farmer who grows food to keep us nourished; the mechanic who fixes our cars so we can get around; and the manufacturer that makes the clothes we wear? Are these jobs less spiritual than channeling messages from angels, teaching meditation or missionary work?

If you can believe that we are all spiritual beings in physical bodies, then why is it such a stretch to imagine the work that we ALL do as spiritual work. Granted not all of us are yet aware of who we truly are and not all work seems to be of a spiritual nature. We feel spirit much more easily in the harmony of nature and the soft touch of a healer than we do in the cold concrete of the city and the hard hand of a banker. That’s why it’s so important to reach in to our imagination rather than our judgements. So why is it that we’re much quicker to pay the banker than the healer? Why is it that the doctor should receive one of the highest wages and the lightworker shouldn’t charge anything? Time and energy goes into any work – no matter how we’ve labelled the work. It is not about the job or the product. It is about sharing ourselves with the world and about how we value ourselves.
It’s important for us to see the value in our gift to the world, no matter how it shows up. Before you go off on how society determines values – you need to remember that WE ARE society. It’s up to us to decide what we value in this world. Those decisions are revealed in what we give our time, energy and our money to. Yes … there is much pressure and influence for us to choose what will benefit the minority over the majority but we still have the power over our choice. We have the final say. We may have forgotten that but we have much more power than we’re made to think.

I am reminded of a Cherokee legend:

An old grandfather told his grandson: “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, and resentment. The other is good. It is joy, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and bravery.”

The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

2 wolves

What we’re speaking of is similar … what we feed is what grows.  So is it best that those who’s gifts show up in a way that we deem to be “spiritual” don’t charge a fee for these gifts. I think perhaps it might even be more important for us to pay for those things that we see as “spiritual” and “healing” and valuable to the community. That would support those offering the products and services and offer the opportunity for that product/service to be more readily available.

I’ll give you an example.  If the woman who is offering spiritual counselling is drained at the end of day at her “real” job – the one she goes to to pay the bills – then how much energy will she have left to offer to those who desperately need her special and unique services. How many people won’t be able to benefit from her special talents because she is away 40 hours of the week trying to make money to pay for food and shelter. And by the way, why is it completely reasonable to pay for food and shelter – the NECESSITIES of life – and not for spiritual nourishment and support? If you took a moment to think about it … food, shelter and medicine are the LAST things we as a society should compel each other to pay for and yet those are the MOST HIGHLY PRICED things. Is not the “civilized” thing to do is to make sure EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD has food, clothing and shelter. Is it more important for every home to have a TV, computer and phone. I think you’ll find most have those things – even when they can’t afford the basics. How INSANE is that! As a society we have the wherewithal to provide the important things to our people. Yet we have been conditioned to believe that the way we’ve been doing things is the RIGHT way. We have become complacent and have become desensitized to the suffering that goes on right beneath our noses. We’re kept so busy struggling just to pay off our debts to notice that something is not right with this picture. We’re so stressed that we seek solace through addictions like food, drugs, drink and tech. We’ve been feeding the wrong wolf.

So who do you want to give your money to? Do you want to feed the system that keeps us asleep and struggling from one week to the next. Or do you want to support the ones who care about our well being enough to work the day job to pay the bills and give us what’s left of their souls. The power to change the world lies within you. You get to choose who you support. Each choice – whether it costs a DIME or $100,000 makes a difference. Remember, it may be cheaper in the moment, but ultimately these choices are what create the structure of our society. If you think I’m being dramatic, take your head out of the fridge or the bottle or the store or the computer (or whatever is distracting you and draining your energy) and LOOK. Just really look and you will see.

ok … I’ve come to the end of my space and we’ve only just touched on the first part of the first question. I told you … it’s a big topic. It’s one that will have to be continued.

P.S.  If you feel a charge from this discussion (and I’m sure most will), allow it to be the opening to explore your deepest feelings.  The crystals can help you in that exploration.  Get in touch with us and we’ll connect you with the best one for you.

P.S.S.  In perfect synchronicity I am blessed to be able to share some pictures of a wonderfully creative customer of mine who chooses to gift her creations to cancer centers and health places.  She is featured in the Honouring Woman section of this month’s Song of Stones newsletter.

Lois_Dirkes_sculpture2       lois dirke sculpture 1