Help me out here.

If you work for someone in a job that is not aligned with your life values, and you do it to pay the bills, to feed the family.

If you’re wishing for a better world, where big money doesn’t squish the little man, where housing cost doesn’t take 80% of your salary.

You may have reservations about taking money in exchange for your skills. You may be critical of those who wish to walk the “new” path beside you that do take money in exchange for their skills and time.

This makes no sense to me anymore.

Let’s look at a tree.

It all starts with a seed, with enough nutrients given to it by the parent tree to throw down some roots into the soil, and stretch a couple of leaves towards the Sun.

It then takes that energy, takes carbon dioxide, takes water.

With these gifts, it creates carbohydrates, and proteins. It keeps part of it to nourish itself and continue growing. It gives the rest to the soil, which feeds bacteria and fungi, which structure the soil for it, protect it from disease and pests.

These microbes mine rock for minerals. They then get eaten by micro-animals (protozoa, microarthropods, nematodes), and the tree takes up what they excrete, as nourishment.

The tree is able to grow, creating more connections in the soil, give more to the microbes, take more sunlight, and collect more dew on its leaves, to give to the soil, cooperate with mycorhizzal fungi to reach deeper.

It pumps water from the roots to the leaves. It sends that water to the air; Cloud seeding bacteria hitch a ride into the sky, which triggers more water to come down, that the tree can take, and give into the soil.

When the time comes, the leaves give their nutrients back to the tree, seeds form, and they all fall to the ground.

New trees have a chance to start in a soil covered in a blanket of leaves given to the soil to feed the microorganisms. They are waiting for the young roots, ready to give them the minerals, and take the sugars, and protein.

It all starts over.

What would happen if…

That seed doesn’t take the carbon dioxide. It can’t create the food, and the microbes die.

That the seed doesn’t take water. It can’t create the food, and the microbes dry out, and die.

That the seed doesn’t take the sunlight, or something takes too much of it away…

You’re beginning to get the picture I hope.

Become a tree

It’s easy to think, that the monetary economy is based just on take. The empaths among us get drained, and get disgusted. They don’t want to participate in this, but still are under pressure to give.

When they see others who feel the same, they see a glimmer of hope, a chance for a better world.

They are ready to give all they have away.

They forget to take. The new world never has a chance to flourish, like the little seed, that never takes the water, the sunlight, the carbon dioxide, the nutrients from the ecosystem in the new soil.

Yes, eight forms of capital have been identified, but money is still one of them. If you still need to give money, don’t forget to take it too. Otherwise your skills may be lost to our ecosystem, and you will spend your life feeding the big money, to pay your mortgage.

Become a tree. Give AND take. We all need you.