Week 6-Recovering a Sense of Abundance

This chapter is entitled Recovering a Sense of Abundance. She explains how money can be a creative block. It is easy to use the excuse oh I don't have money for an art class. This may be true but we don't necessarily have to go that extravagance to unblock our creativity. She challenges the reader's view that of money, God and creativity. Some examples of this would be, "Do I  believe God would provide for me in a way that also includes my creativity?" I often think of creativity as a luxury or I think that in order to create it needs to be big or take a lot of money. An example of small luxuries may be how often do I buy flowers for myself or take a trip to a museum? It is these small things that nurture our spiritual and creative growth.

It was interesting to see how quick  I assume these are her Western ideas for those that have plenty.Here in Africa where there is little people still create and make the most amazing craft like this  (crocheted plastic bags).  The truth is I don't believe God cares about creativity. I don' t think it is possible to have these desires also be God's desires. Cameron states"thinking like this is grounded in the idea that God is a stern parent with very rigid ideas about what is appropriate for us." 

If you have spent any time around me it wouldn't take long to see that money is a quick way to witness my anxiety. I am scared of the power that it has over people. It can erode relationships,compassion,sincerity, and justice. As I began to think more about how I fear the power of money what I realized is that I believe money is more powerful than God. If I were to fall into the trap of money God would leave me to my own devices. I  know this sounds crazy, but this is what I fear. This glaring reality led me to think about verses that I could remember off the top of my head in regards to money. The one that came to mind was 'the love of money is the root of all evil.' The funny thing is that what I remembered the verse saying was 'money is the root of all evil'. Somewhere along the way I have made money evil not greed. I don't exactly know how to process this experience but I do hope because of this discovery I can begin to adjust my thinking. Money has been used to do some amazing things in health care, education, and so many other areas. It has been used to provide for people that may not have been given certain chances.

There is an exercise at the end of the chapter that asks you to complete the phrases. Some examples are:
People with money are....
Money makes people...
In my family money caused...

Once I read all my answers I realized I had an extremely negative view of people with money. I found I was judgmental and harsh towards them. This harsh tone was concerning because I knew this was not accurate of all rich people. I made a list of people who I considered to have money in order to decide if these accusations were true of them. They weren't. I know some absolutely lovely people who are rich and not consumed by greed. People who have been gracious to me and so many others. The more I though about it the more stories came to mind where people had used the resources they had to do good.

I really enjoyed journeying deeper into this part of myself. I have known my been aware of my anxiety but it was nice to be able to put my finger on some of its origins.

{The following topic and quotes are taken from the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron}