As insidious as it can be, money is far and away one of our most interesting inventions. Currency is an absurd concept that equates time and abstract value to a physical representation1. Because these physical objects embody metaphor, it's hard not to forget that what we're dealing with, like most things in life, is imaginary. The illusion is so thick that it bridges the gap between imagination and physical reality. Most wish for unfathomable amounts of wealth. In truth, what they long for is the freedom to spend the precious few hours left in their life uninhibited by financial barriers, limitations of patience, or impeding obligations. Or simply, to move without struggle. The consequences of losing ourselves to this seductive idea attributes to some of the biggest problems our society faces. We kill over this philosophical concept. We enslave ourselves in its propagation, and worse, we enslave others. It doesn't have to be this way.
It's hard not to be seduced. We can hold money, feel the idea in our hands. Some forms are gorgeous, diamonds, gold, silver, stones, intricately designed bills. We can see the direct correlation between the cash in our wallet to the numbers in our bank account. It's all there, it's (in ideal times) easy to account for it. The more we have the safer we feel. We know that we can exchange these numbers for food, shelter, aid, or temporary joy. The sickness of illusion happens when we forget that while these representations (digital accounts, bills, coins, etc.) are simply value metaphors. They hold value because someone, usually identified as an expert, says they do, and if we are all in agreeance, it does. But that is not an absolute truth, at its best, when we discuss money, or value, what we're speaking of is a layered conversation of time, and death. How much time we have left, and how much time it costs us to procure. The true price, as our time is finite, and we cannot get back what's spent.
Let's look to art for clarification. Some paintings are deemed priceless masterpieces, others, not. They're value is entirely subjective (intermixed with some foundational concepts), based what we believe or perceive. Again we must trust "experts" in the importance of a painting. That it is original (scarcity), created by a master (subjective, gauged by popularity, compounded by agreeance, which adds value because each master has a limited amount of time alive to create more work. Again, we see scarcity), the materials come into play (as they cost other's time to create, and the make up of these mediums themselves have a cost for the time and scarcity they took to obtain, the pattern continues) and so forth. The more beautiful the work (also subjective to the beholder. More apt than its aesthetics would be how meaningful, or moving it affects viewers) the more we value it in regards to our potential time to appreciate its beauty in the limited amount of time we have left alive. All of this wrapped up within a frame.
We can face the entirety of our existence in art, and further, in most objects. Down to the price tag. As terrifying as it is, most of life is a play, a game, a move between sacrifice and satisfaction to squeeze the most out of our fleeting hours. Currency has become our greatest attempt at representing that dance. Beautiful when you think about it.
The more money we have represents the more potential time we have. We know this because if you have unlimited amounts of money you can, for the most part, dictate how your time is spent. For example, if you don't want to clean, you can pay people to clean. If you don't want to cook, you can pay for your food to be cooked for you. Your finances give you control over how your hours are spent. Money allows for faster, smoother means of travel, saving us time through money, time which we can choose to relax or work.
While money equates to some form of freedom, in the end, that freedom boils down to perspective. Many accumulate fortunes, retire in abject wealth, and feel no more better than they did while striving for their finances. They continue to age, marching to the grave as miserable as they were slaving for their paychecks. Other's lead more modest lives, find gratitude in the simple pleasures surrounding them, weather, structures, conversation, books (another contender for our greatest technology), music, nature. It's all a choice, and there's no real "correct" answer so long as your enjoyment is honest and not contrived. If your soul is singing making business deals, and eating expensive meals, fantastic! If you find joy sipping cheap coffee from a thermos you brewed at home while you read a book on the oceanside after a long walk, that's equally as good. So long as you're embracing the vast majority of hours you're breathing, you're on the right track.
We invest the time we have to extend our potential time2, when in truth we need to focus on having the best time. Money, in some ways, can dictate our perspective on the value of the time we're having. If we feel like we've overspent, or been swindled it's difficult to enjoy the nuances of our experience. Whereas when we feel like we've received something of great value for a small cost we feel elated. Changing, and challenging our perspectives are the ultimate path to contentment. By deconstructing our situation we can circumnavigate such pitfalls. We can make choices focusing on the core needs, and necessity, then building to preferences, and appropriate sacrifice. Do you need to have a luxury car, or do you need to simply arrive at your destination? Comfort is obviously a component, and price does (at its best) reflect quality, of material of mechanics, so we can apply some degree of added safety to our equation, which delays death or maiming, the worst ways to spend our future hours.
Is it better to be chauffeured on a private plane, or interact with the public on a commercial flight? Without a doubt, flying private must be lovely. Operations move more or less at your schedule, it's luxurious, you're streamlined and doted on. The fees are high, the staff is well compensated, people at work are accommodating, and happy3. In comparison, being stuck at a commercial airport with delays, irritable staff, screaming children, contagious phobia inducing fear and obtuse entitlement from first time flyers, compounding exhaustion, fluorescent lights, and layovers is a recipe for an unpleasant ambience at best, and a hellish day at worst. You will, however, save both a large amount of cash for other comforts or needs, and the hours sacrificed to afford a flight exponentially more expensive, as well as eased your environmental footprint. If we can learn to lean in and embrace the chaos, things are beautiful. Either way, waiting to fly through the air like a bird is magick.
Regardless of how you move, be it private, or commercial the cost is the same. In each choice your finite time is spent. Some have millions, earned by consuming their time through post secondary, and eighty hour work weeks at the expense of family life, but now travel in ease. Others choose a less rigorous, serene, and relaxed existence, choosing to enjoy their time in other avenues, have less funds, and as a result have a longer, more stressful travel day4. In some capacity these words are reaching you, therefore you're living. If you're living then you have a choice in your life structure, metaphorically "living for the weekend," or "living in the moment." Do you need an abundance of “wealth,” or time, to embrace the joy of living? How do you balance that?
Many people fall under the spell of money. A curse we've named Greed. The parallels of greed and a fear of death are obvious. A phobia of the unknown, or potential suffering. Some hoard and recklessly consume to compensate for their subconscious existential terror. This is all in play with a fear of death. True, in some cases, money can afford us extra time alive. Paying for the most expensive, and arguably best, physicians, medications, and health services. But we cling to money out of fear. We clutch currency thinking that it will save us, and we hoard it as we try to hoard time. In our struggle to save ourselves we sacrifice our moments drowning in stress or worry of safety in a time that will be perceptually identical to the moment we're in. We could choose to focus on healthy choices now, and embrace our current state with optimism and gratitude. Cutting the corner for future joy with immediate experience, and the knowledge that if our happiness is determined by perspective then we have an endless supply. Time, obviously, is our most dire commodity, but it has to come with a balance. If we don't accept the time we have is finite we miss a tremendous amount of the beauty of uncertainty in being alive. Money can distract from our greatest gift, the now.
We can't escape time and the rules about it, but we can escape how much time dictates us. We can choose to enjoy the time we have, however we have it. Yes, money can buy you more medication to try and elongate your time, but outside of circumstances of privilege where you have the wealth without effort there is still a heavy trade. You can spend your time earning money for better and better doctors, or you can spend the time educating yourself on nutrition, through physical fitness and avoiding many ailments with a robust immune system,
Without question abject poverty can lead to an early death. Be it from malnutrition, poor living conditions, bad sanitation, or not being able to afford health services. In such circumstances money quickly garnishes time and can be the difference between life and death for those living day by day. If we could change our collective perspective on life, we could evolve our feelings towards inventions like money. Currency is a great, powerful, abstract tool, one we can use to save ourselves by saving the greater collective. Some socialist ideas, such as socialized health care, could prove to be a great remedy.
Now sometimes socialized healthcare takes longer to achieve its intended result, to receive care. There's lessons in the madness. The Triage system5 is something we can apply outside of emergency rooms and into our daily life. This is where collective work on philosophical ideas is paramount. In terms of sequential priority (triage), our health should be at the forefront. For without, we either die and have no more time6, or the time that we do have is spent debilitated and in agony. If we can agree that we need to unburden ourselves from fear of our health due to money, and that everyone shouldn't live terrified7 of the consequences of accidents, or help, we can move forward on many other societal problems that plague us. You won't fear robbery or attack if everyone lives in some degree of abundance. At least taking care of our most basic needs.
That said, we have people that abuse socialized healthcare systems and "clog up our hospitals". It could be unhealthy living. Obesity, some cases of diabetes, alcoholism, drug addiction, these are all symptoms, of nihilistic living, of a lack of hope. Looking for substances to fill us. And it's not that these people don't need care or don't require help, aid or empathy. They, like everyone, deserve attention and love. It is hard to move through this life without a healthy perspective on how to live and how to find value in both yourself and your time. We need to make sure each individual feels valued by their community, and empower them to take care of their health, to eat clean, to maximize the strength of themselves.
You can work all day at some menial job and break down your body, or you can grow and strengthen your body. As a collective, if we become more healthy as individuals we save everyone time, energy, and money, by taking care of ourselves. Outside of disease or accidents, most ailments can be avoided or at least recovery accelerated from a sound baseline of health. It is much easier to mend the broken arm of a healthy person in a ski accident than to amputate a foot of someone neglecting their body. People don't mind helping accidental injuries. It's a good story. We're happy to help. Most injuries can be served through menial first aid education. Which we should all take time to learn, to help, and create a better social society.
Ultimately, we can't do this alone. If everyone could choose that some of our money//time goes into supporting everyone else, so individually we don't live in fear of not being able to receive these services and care we could save ourselves time//money. Rather, the time saved from paying for private health services could be spent on our health in ways we enjoy. Be it through sports or weightlifting, jogging or other hobbies. Healthy eating and nutrition becomes incumbent, and because of that subsidies are necessary. It's important that we share so in turn we can receive.
What are we ourselves aside from, like cash, another physical embodiment of time. We wear time. We're marked by time. We age, we are in harmony with it. Some people in retirement, or in injury lose purpose, feel worthless because they cannot work. But we are the work. Our job is ourselves, elevating as individuals for the better of all. Raising our moods and manners, so we may better serve, and care. A balance between giving, and making sure to tend to our own needs. All we can ever fully "have" is ourselves and by proxy our time. We must spend it wisely and not despair or panic due to our finances. If we can set a collective safety net, of kindness, diplomacy, amongst our friends, families, community and neighbours, we can save ourselves.
Ultimately, we only have so much time to spend our money. We could choose to spend our time with the people we love, or we can choose to work for the people we love and make sure that they're provided for after our death. In some ways, we are giving our time to others8. It is as noble as it is tragic. People give all their time away, never to enjoy it. They slave and slave, run themselves into the ground, and ruin their bodies for money//time they will never spend. While it is very generous to share, what is the real cost? What are we fighting against? We're fighting against death. We're fighting out of fear. We’ll never know how much time we have, which is a blessing and a curse. What is certain is that Death will come. It's a great game, don't be fooled in how you play it.
Yes, time is money. Yes, there will never be enough time. Embrace what you have. Find a little awe, a little peace, feel the breeze on your nose, the rain on your head, sun rays on your skin. Appreciate wherever you are. Even if it's within a small, dingy apartment, even if you are going through a crisis. Peace is within the moment as much as it is within you. Take seconds to realize that there's love coming through these words, that there are strangers who care about you, and that you are not alone. Your time matters. You matter.
You may need to work harder to make more money to allocate a better "time" for yourself, but a smaller amount than you might think. Don't be caught in these trappings. Liberation comes through perspective. We will never have “enough” time. We can all make a greater effort to spend that time together. Money is a tool, nothing more. Our perspective on time and money can set us free.
We cannot escape this lifetime without hard work. Be it work that accumulates wealth, or work that accumulates perspective. Or both. That work takes time. Invest and spend your time wisely. You only get one chance. You cannot take anything with you, save for your integrity. Give as you will, love as you will, but do so consciously. The most healthy relationships would rather a bank of memories shared with you than some form of inheritance. Be mindful of how your work and job taxes your body and soul. If you're arriving stressed, irritable, and unpleasant around those you cherish, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Cash will not enrich any healthy relationship. The "sacrifices" you might make to "take care of others" might affect them in a more negative way than you intend. Divorce, estrangement, neglect. Choose wisely. Break the cycles. Choose how you see this very moment. Find the beauty in the now. Spend your time in Joy.
Thank you so much for taking time to read this. It is my sincere hope that the time it took to write translates into a filter to help you appreciate the years, hours, and seconds left in your life. If nothing else, know that this stranger appreciates you, and the time you gave this work.
With Gratitude,
-Mr. Write
Often through rare stones and metals, or coveted pieces of paper.
As hard as it is to accept nothing is certain.
Or at least good at pretending to be.
Of course there are the very few privileged ones that were born into wealth. The cost of which is not knowing the beauty of hard work, the patience, and satisfaction which comes from defying struggle. Then are the unfortunate souls that have simply faced hardship after hardship with no rhyme or reason, tragedy outside their control. Not trying to generalize, there are of course other circumstances on the fringes.
Duh.
For example, in the United States, where a hospital trip can bankrupt you and steal all, money//hard earned time and put you in crippling debt, all after experiencing some degree of physical trauma.
Tragically the "time" we give is at the direct cost of the "time" spent with them.