The inspiration theory of money

Yesterday, I was walking through town and I saw a small group of dressed-up people. They were standing outside the local council hall. It was a wedding, about to go down.

The bride-to-be was sitting by the door and taking deep breaths. She was getting ready to stand up and walk into the building.

All around her and around the small group, down the stairs and across the small piazza in front, there was a scattered mass of pink flower petals.

And then in the corner of the piazza, there was a cleaning woman. She had a broom in hand. And she was already busy, sweeping up the flower petals and throwing them away into a trash bag.

For many years now, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of what money really is.

I’ve read a bit about it, but I’ve never found a satisfactory answer. I think a part of that is that money is in fact several different things, all rolled into one.

So let me tell you a bit of what I’ve concluded about money, and why this can matter if you are looking to make more money.

One obvious thing:

Money is a measure of what different people value, right there in a specific moment. So for example, take the wedding scene.

I’m sure the wedding party paid good money for those flower petals. The petals had value to that group of people. Right up to the moment that the future bride sat down before going in for the actual wedding.

But in that very moment, things shifted. The value of the flower petals to the wedding party disappeared.

Instead, there was sudden value to all the other citizens of this small town in getting rid of the flower petals. Which is why the cleaning woman was getting paid to sweep them up.

Maybe it seems like I am flogging a dead flower here. But there is a non-obvious point to all this:

Many of us, myself included, think of money as some kind of stored resource, like flower petals in a bag, or maybe grain in a silo. You have a good harvest… store some of your grain away… and you will have something to eat when winter comes.

And by extension:

If I take some of your money away from you, I will have more to eat this winter, and you will have less.

But money might be less like grain in a silo than like applause after a rousing speech… or the joy of having flowers thrown over you as you walk in for your wedding.

In this theory, money is a reflection of temporary desire, and of the ability to inspire, move, and influence. It’s a measure of what some of us value right now, and that waxes and wanes from moment to moment.

Of course, there is more to money than this. Which is why money might seem confusing to you, like it does to me.

Maybe I will write more about that another time. If you want to read that should it appear, you can sign up here.

But for now, I’d like to suggest that money is not a zero-sum game. And perhaps, if you are looking to make more money, keeping this in mind will help you inspire, move, and persuade other people… for just a few moments… in ways that benefit you both.