Money makes us anonymous

Handing over a piece of paper or digits across screens may be the sum total of the relationship between the buyer and the seller. I want milk, I buy from the supermarket, I may or may not smile, or even chat briefly to the person at the check out…although now I mostly buy using the non-human check out. (And while I have had a few things to say on occasions to the checkout machine, I do not get a human response.)

This relationship is devoid of connectivity and humanity.

I have no relationship with the original cow, the farmer who milked the cow, the delivery truck driver who delivered the milk, the person on night shift in the supermarket who packed the shelf… not to mention the person at the checkout.

We are all shrouded in the field of anonymity.

This is not always a bad thing, but when this becomes a large part of our monetary transactions, then the habit and the disconnection will create undesirable effects.

Compare my milk-buying experience with my regular trip to my local coffee establishment. I know the baristas by name. They know my name. They know my coffee. I even know the owner. The coffee is exceptional. And we have a relationship. They know the origins of the coffee, and I am invited to know.

In this relationship, my money is no longer anonymous.

When we lose connection with Source, when we lose the connection with the farmer, the soil, the whole community of people who bring milk to my table, we lose connection with life itself. Real value is gone from the table. It becomes OK for a supermarket chain to seriously underprice a loaf of bread so as to break the competition. Did we ever stop to ask…at what price? And who will pay? For someone will pay. (The farmer, the small corner store, for example)

There are times when anonymity is utilitarian and desirable. But if this is our entire relationship with money, then we are lost.

How much consciousness do we bring to our exchanges with money? How much time do we take to be grateful for the many people involved in the sequence of events that bring food to our table, or the piece of software on our machine?

Imagine living in a world where every exchange of money came with a deep reverence and respect, a blessing of sorts, for the people who enabled this purchase to occur?

Or…ask yourself the question…how many times have you felt unseen, unacknowledged, undervalued…’ just another cog in the wheel?’ Part of the transaction? This is a side effect of the anonymity of money.

Today, I invite you to be aware of all of your money exchanges. To remove at least a layer of anonymity, connect with the person in service, and be mindful of the many people who have been part of your purchase journey.

Practice this for a few days and watch your relationship with money change.

Photo credit: Elf-8 via Compfight