Creative Every Day

Guest Post by Luna Jaffe

February 22nd, 2013

 

Lightening up around money

 

The color drained out of Lori’s face when I asked her to describe her relationship with money by drawing it. She looked at me like I was crazy-- then looked at the art supplies, then glanced out the window. 

I focused on making a pot of peppermint tea for us, and when I returned she was working intently on her image, purple, red and black flying across the page. When finished she looked up and smiled at me, shaking her head. “Oh, my god!” she said, laughing, “I had no idea I felt this way!” She had drawn a hot air balloon full of money rising into the air, and a tiny little stick figure running after it. 

I asked her to give the image a title. “That’s easy! It’s called ‘Beyond my reach’”. She flopped back in her chair and laughed—“Yup, that’s the story of my life! I can see money, almost taste it, but just as I’m about to FINALLY have some financial stability or solid cash flow something happens and puff! It’s gone.”

Using creativity to discover and heal your relationship with money is powerful, insightful and transformative. Ultimately it helps you step outside of your money story so that you can gain perspective, have a good laugh, and begin the process of choosing a new healthier way of being.

Here are five ways you can leverage your creativity to lighten up around money so that joy and possibility can begin to seep in:

1. Draw or find an image that reflects your current relationship with money. Write about what you notice, what surprises you, where you are in the picture. Then draw a new image representing how you want your money relationship to feel. Remember to make sure that you AND money are in the picture!

2. Get an egg—a real egg—and decorate it, give it a name and personality. This represents your nest egg, that which provides financial stability and protection from catastrophe. Carry this with you for a week, being careful not to drop or break it. What if you treated your money with this same level of love and respect?

3. Send money and love notes to people that inspire you—the very act of doing this generates positive energy around money. To read more about this concept, click here

4. Money-In Calendar: post a wall calendar for the sole purpose of noticing when money comes into your life—salary, bonuses, alimony, interest, gifts, refunds—all of it. You can even get more playful and use different colored post-it notes to mark increments of money-- $50, $100+, $250+, etc. (shameless self-promotion: just a dollar contribution to our Kickstarter campaign gets you a beautiful Wild Money calendar that is perfect for this activity!)

5. Create a sacred space for doing your money – make an altar, use a special candle, light incense, surround yourself with money positive images—and give thanks for what you have and how you show respect for the money in your life. Create a little ritual for loving yourself up after paying your bills—a nice glass of wine, some dark, yummy chocolate or a bubble bath.

My wish for you is that you learn to see your creativity as a gift that needs training wheels for new terrain. There is nothing wrong with you. You aren’t missing the money gene. It is possible to lighten up while taking your money more seriously. You are worth it.

To pre-order your books and help with Luna’s Kickstarter campaign, click here. Bonuses at all reward levels! Ends March 2^nd.

Luna Jaffe, visual artist and Certified Financial Planner™ is the CEO of Luna Jaffe International, a company dedicated to inspiring creatives to transform and heal their relationship with money. She is the author of the forthcoming books Wild Money: A Creative Journey to Financial Wisdom and Wild Money Financial Field Guide and Journal. More at www.lunajaffe.com

 

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