Money. How much is enough?

A question hot on my heart that lingers on my lips.

The more I contemplate life, and death, the more curious I become about how I wish to live. Vast lifestyle versions come to mind – Travel, Slow Living on Land, Beach side Abodes… Each possibility feels soul stimulating and life loving. And, each possibility exists in this modern world of economic exchange. As much as I’d like to escape it, money is a commodity.

At my core, I’m a simple girl. Give me a beach to bathe, or a hill to hike, or a bush to camp and I’m a happy girl. And, I also love beautiful things. Linen sheets, quality wines, high-end home finishes… these make me happy too! I want to live in my off grid farm house (complete with stone bench tops ✔ high ceilings ✔ wooden floorboards ✔ – not too far from the beach ✔) work the land and home-school my children alongside my part-time-working husband and be close to shops and cafe’s…. I am human after all.

And, what do I really want?

My inquiry has me questioning ⤵

How much money is enough?

How much money is enough to live well, without compromising our values?

How much money is enough to accommodate the life-style I desire whilst honouring the lifestyle I wish to live?

These aren’t easy questions to answer…

Travelling Australia, I’ve realised I don’t need the most modern van, the 100k car, and the bells and whistles that some would claim ‘travel essentials’. And, whilst this ‘stuff’ may be nice to experience – I’m not sold on the fact that it would elevate my experience of LIFE. As (well-intentioned) people make recommendations about how to make life on the road ‘easier’ with more gadgets and stuff, I sense that leaning in that direction would mean sacrificing the elemental values we wish to live. Put simply, more expense would equal less experience. Begging the question – what is the real cost of ‘living?

Years ago, when I started out my ‘soul biz’ as a new mum, I had the same desire many of us do – to build a business that would supplement my nine-five income (and then some…) that simultaneously offered the lifestyle freedom and time freedom I craved. Alas, my efforts to try to ‘make it work’ meant more time invested and less life lived. Over the years (and two additional children later) I’ve learnt to soften into motherhood. Weaving women’s work and lifestyle values together. I don’t have a six-fig biz and my soul satisfaction is higher than ever. My commitment to my life’s work overrides any dollar. Yet, I still wonder – how much is enough? Because the reality is that we live in a world where money matters.

As we continue our travels, my mind moves towards what’s next? Not in a way that takes me out of the present, rather in a way that offers deeper contemplation about the life I wish to create. When we choose to place roots once again, I know it will be from a place of deep intention. And, when I consider where we might live, and what our lifestyle could be, I wonder, how much is enough? My heart desiring a simple life, and joy still sparked by thoughts of ‘things’ that don’t come cheap. Is it possible they co-exist? Can my vision and my values intersect? My heart says yes – and, that there is more sifting and shifting to take place… To find the roots of my desires before placing roots, perhaps.

Right now, my sense is that money is like all things. Rhythmical, cyclical, and seasonal. How much is enough is very dependent on the phase and stage we find ourselves in. How much money we ‘need’ is driven by our values. How much is enough is not necessarily a number, but a feeling – an energy – a vibration.

Perhaps when we can tune into the phase and stage we are in, and truly align with our values, we can unravel how much is enough – not an external number per se, but at an internal feeling. A feeling that offers us what we value most.

I leave you with a little poem I wrote recently whilst watching my kids play on the beach…

With love,

Taryn x

WHITE LINEN LIES

Caught in a web of white linen lies.

Chasing the untouchable dream to one day live her life.

Always “In a minute” Never in the moment.

Escaped the daily grind and replaced with exhausting entrepreneurial entrapment.

Walking the promised path of six figures to freedom.

Seven steps to disappointment.

Tangled values.

Soul seeds stumped by societal values.

Incongruance chisels away at the safety net surrounding her soul.

Cracking her open.

Cutting the cords.

Revealing the roots of her desires.

Burning the linen binds.

She sees that simplicity is where freedom is met.

Her curious heart leads the way.

Rerouting her journey to a delicious dripping destination.

When the dangling carrot mirage emerges

She looks over her shoulder and remembers

The treacherous path to the promise land

She has already traversed.

Her sheer heart smiles.

Moving with the wind.

Allowing life to take her,

Where she was always destined to be.