A while back I purchased a book for my love on Valentine’s Day.

It is “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition” by Charles Eisenstein.

We’ve both been very interested in alternative currencies, barter, local economies, etc. and have read much about it, but nothing like what is described in this book. Charles Eisenstein, a genius in my opinion,(believe me, it bent my brain a bit to understand all of his concepts), regards our current monetary system as one that creates “separation.”

“The purpose of this book is to make money and human economy as sacred as everything else in the universe.”

~ C. Eisenstein

“Obviously, if we are to make money into something sacred, nothing less than a wholesale revolution in money will suffice, a transformation of its essential nature.”  ~ C. Eisenstein

I could quote on and on but perhaps you will read for yourself, this inspired work by a great mind and visionary.

Recently, news of rising minimum wage initiatives have been filtering in through the media. In Seattle, Portland, New York—is there a shift that we can actually hold on to? I wonder. I hope so. We are in dire need of money not being what separates us, but what keeps us strong in community.

This past week, I read about Seattle CEO, Dan Price, of Gravity Payments. He has purposed to cut his own salary by 70% in order to afford significant pay raises for his employees. Wow! I was blown away. Finally, a young mind that is brimming with potential to take us into a new world of how business is done.

I cannot write this without applauding the man who founded elephant journal, our own Waylon Lewis. Here too, I see a mind and heart at work that will change the course of time. I’m saying this as a heartfelt appreciation for the dedication and vision it takes to run a business with personal ethics as a compass.

It takes courage, I know this, because I have owned businesses, and know first-hand how finances can become the juggernaut that breaks the best intentions into nothing more than a dream.

But instead of listening to me, let’s hear from Dan Price, who is making headlines and changing lives profoundly by finding the courage to live by his principles.

Relephant Reads:

Waylon & Blake’s Best Mindful Business Books & Resources for Entrepreneurs.

~

Author: Monika Carless

Editor: Renee Jahnke

Image: Toban Black-Flickr