It's not just you - money taboos are by design 🤫

This is an unsettling season for many of us. 😞

How are you? Like really, how arrrrrre you? What's your life raft? 🤔

And I know I'm not alone in looking for a life raft. For me, community is my first life raft, but a clooooose second is Books. 📚✨

Last Tuesday evening, we had our monthly book club discussion in the Money Healing Club, and this month's pick was “The Financial Activist Playbook” by Jasmin Rashid.📖 What emerged wasn't just a book review, but a deeply honest conversation about power, money systems, and how seemingly small acts can create meaningful change for ourselves and our world. 💰🌎

We connected in our shared desire to use our money for good over evil, but feel ineffective because of the crippling combo of guilt and hopelessness. 😔

One member shared how they'd been avoiding Target since the company caved to political pressure around Pride merchandise🏳️‍🌈, but found themselves needing toothpaste and had to go through those big red doors anyway. 

A few members realized that this book might never have crossed their radar because "I'm so busy trying to figure out my own money" – which is exactly by design. 📊

When we're all individually struggling, we can't collectively organize. ✊

That's why our Money Healing Club isn't just about personal finance – it's about creating pockets of resistance and healing in a system designed to keep us isolated. 🤝🔥

💡5 Key Takeaways from the Club's Financial Activist Playbook talk:

1. The taboo around money isn't accidental – it centralizes power. When workers don't discuss salaries, companies maintain pay inequity. When we feel shame around our financial situations, we stay silent and disconnected. 🤐💸

2. There's no ethical consumption under capitalism, but that doesn't mean we're powerless.🚫 Instead of guilt-driven spending ("buying the expensive butter to spite Trump" 😂), we can shift toward intentional actions that bring joy and build community. 🎉👭

3. Conscious consumerism has been co-opted by corporations selling $50 water bottles that "save lives." 💸 Think: GREENWASHING. Real change happens through collective action, not individual purchasing choices. If you gotta get toothpaste at a big box retailer, it's ok. We're trying to get by in a system that's made it impossible for us to avoid it. 🤷‍♀️

4. Rest is revolutionary. One of our favorite ideas? Creating giving circles💞 where friends pool resources to give each other "a break from bills" – allowing time for creativity, skill-building, and renewal that benefits everyone.🎨📚 One way this is happening is through Mutual Aid efforts. [We read Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey in December. Can you see how GOOOOOD our book club picks are???] 😍

5. The process begins with questioning. First, ask “why are things this way?”🤔, consider how you feel about it, explore what's possible, determine what you can do now, and discover what we can do together. 💭

Excerpt from The Financial Activist Playbook by Jasmin Rashid, 2024

We're exploring these ideas and more in the Money Healing Club.🔥Next month, we're launching a "Giving Circle" space inspired by our book club conversation – a bulletin board📌 where members can share and request resources, skills, and support without the tit-for-tat of traditional bartering.

 Joining the Money Healing Club isn't just about getting your own finances in order (though we're absolutely here for that too💵😉). It's an act of resistance against financial isolation. It's joining a community where we can talk openly about money, share resources, and build collective power. 🤝

Joining the Club will help you with the Step 5 in the graphic above, “What can we do together?”✨

Ready to be a Financial Activist? ⬇️Our doors are always open. 😊