Life's so good you're drinking gravy!
I love Thanksgiving; it’s easily my favorite holiday. Some sainted sage once said: “Let’s celebrate thankfulness, with no religious confusion, no commercialization, and eat and eat and eat.” It’s simple gratitude to the core, a perfect design for a holiday. It’s also the High Holy Day for Slow Foodies, who scheme and cook for months. I also love Thanksgiving because it’s the only holiday dedicated to gravy. I LOVE gravy, and the slow foodista that I live with has mastered the art of broth, the heart and soul of excellent gravy.
I was talking with a client recently about how simple some pleasures are, and how rich they make us feel. It was a few days after Thanksgiving, and I was rhapsodic about the broth my sweetheart Genevieve makes, and the resulting gravy I was bathing everything in. The client challenged me to somehow work “gravy” into this upcoming article, and as we talked about it, we realized how fundamental simple pleasures are, how they are what give us “real wealth.” I said, “It’ll be all about gravy!”
It’s easy to mistake the size of one’s portfolio, the type of car one drives, or the stories we tell ourselves for wealth, but that misses the mark. Real wealth is many tangible things, but it’s also, essentially, the way we feel. The way we feel about life, about our daily experience, about what we eat, what we talk about, the music we listen to, how connected we feel to what’s good.
Clearly real wealth is not … Continue reading It’s all about the gravy
Here’s an introductory article I wrote in 2000. Looks prescient now …
The current global financial system is killing the Earth. Distant capital markets allocate resources without regard to local communities or the local environment. Corporations are required to maximize shareholder return – short-term profits determine decision-making. Our political system seems powerless to change and is equally disconnected from the natural world and the health of the people. The results? Extreme weather, the spread of infectious diseases, a cancer epidemic, social dislocation, staggering soil losses, loss of biodiversity, you know the list. Is this the future that you want to live in? Neither do I.
I’m suggesting a different vision. The opportunity to bring sustainability and profitability together in a way that honors humane values. Business has long been strong at building abundance. With its focus on maximizing profits, it has developed amazing skill at creating “more.” On the other hand, the environmental movement has raised the standard for sustainability, asking that we act in a way that protects and rebuilds the health of the natural world. Both fall short in how they care for people – stress and burnout are rampant in both the business community and the sustainability movement. Holistic financial planning offers a process that combines the best of both worlds in a way that cares for people. It creates sustainable abundance that honors human values. It can create a new world where biodiversity thrives, life is fun, communities are diverse and prosperous, and the climate returns to its normal oscillations, profitably. Through holistic financial planning and socially responsible investment advice you can bring this vision into reality. Here are seven ways that I think holistic financial planning can help move the world toward this new vision. Continue reading 7 Ways Holistic Financial Planning Will Help Save the World
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