(HuffPost) Returning Home In A New Place

For countless hours of innumerable days of many months over nearly ten years I had a sanctuary, a home-away-from home In Los Angeles. It went by the name of Elixir, and it lived on a quiet section of Melrose Avenue near the soon-to-be extinct Bodhi Tree Bookstore.

The lush bamboo garden at Elixir witnessed more turning points in my life than many of the people who know me best. Just about the only thing I haven't done at Elixir was have sex (although I have it first hand that more than a few relationships were consecrated there under a full Moon in the late night hours after the doors were shuttered for the day).

Everything seems to have a time and a season, and apparently the space that hosted Elixir may have traveled its lifespan as a gracious tea garden, creative crucible, writer's haven, and go-to spot for a proliferation of first dates.

The garden is still flourishing to this day, albeit unappreciated by anyone who'd be uplifted by it. The property sits empty, likely awaiting a wrecking ball for some high-end retail outfit that can afford the $35,000 a month in rent (note: Rent was at around $16,000 a month before a former sports agent went around Elixir offering the landlords double rent if he could use the spot to establish his own turnkey empire. His business barely lasted there two years.)

And now I sit on a plush red chair amidst bamboo tables in a light airy space flooded with the intoxication of California Sunshine at nearly any point of the day. While caffeine abounds, there's no rush to get in and get out here.

I'm in a very different neighborhood on a busier section of Melrose savoring Miriam Novalle's latest ouvre, T Salon LA (the original flourishes in New York City's hip Chelsea Market). Feng Shui'd without sacrificing design, T Salon brings a cool elegance with a flair for the lost art of welcoming. Novalle is the consummate host, shuttling between the tables of both coasts to ensure her commitment to service and style is fully delivered.

Healing is one branch on the burgeoning tree that is my life. I am intrinsically and irrevocably an artist; an artist who's creativity is injected with rocket fuel through inspired environment (music, light, scent, and design).

Once again, I am at home. I feel the rush of excitement urging me to make no plans this afternoon other than choosing a tea, a table, and letting the surge of energy bubble into creation. I foresee many hours of writing in my new perch.

Without fail I'll spread the word of this haven everywhere I go. You see, I've learned that I must fertilize and nurture anything and everything that gives to me.

In my new economy, it's not enough to merely pay my money at the register and let that be the end of a transaction. Straightening a chair, tidying a restroom when I'm finished, and promoting a conscious business are simple ways for me to give back and ensure all my favorite things not only survive but also thrive.

WEALTH

I am one of the wealthiest people I know.

I have unlimited access to Abundance.

My Abundance can not be even minutely reflected by a number in the current monetary system.

"Contemporary European author, Bernard Lietaer, former senior officer of the Belgian Central Bank and one of the chief architects of the Euro currency, in his book, Of Human Wealth, says that greed and fear of scarcity are programmed; they do not exist in nature, not even in human nature. They are built into the money system in which we swim, and we've been swimming in it so long that these shadows have become almost completely transparent to us. We have learned to consider them normal and legitimate behavior. He concludes that Adam Smith's system of economics could more accurately be described as the allocation of scarce resourses through the process of individual greed. The whole process of Smith's "modern" economics actually has its roots in primitive fears of scarcity, greed, and the implementation too -- the process by which this became real -- was money."
~ from THE SOUL OF MONEY by Lynne Twist

I have an abundance of time, Love, Awareness, and Healing...all of which are valuable commodities that can be exchanged without limit. On more directly observable levels are all the skills and talents I have been blessed with and continue to uncover, develop, and expand.

As we inch and perhaps eventually sprint into what will be the new economy of Exchange inside of a circle without beginning or end, you and I will have an ever expanding community with which to exchange our abundant resources for food, clothing, shelter, learning, entertainment, health & fitness, and so many other commodities.

This form of exchange requires that I develop and expand Self-Love, which allows me to clearly recognize, honor, and value the abundant resources I steward and share. As I have authentic awareness of the value of these gifts, they become recognizably valuable in the marketplace of Exchange.

When I let the status of my debt-to-income ratio in the current monetary system become the metric for my self-worth, I can not and do not perceive my innate abundance and the profound abundance of the natural world, and reflexively obscuring this value, rendering it unable to be exchanged within the world at large.

Perhaps this is in the direction of what Jesus meant by teaching his students to "Be in the world but not of it." For it's not about pretending the current monetary system doesn't exist. At the moment, I can't walk into Whole Foods and ask the cashier to exchange a cart full of groceries for a healing session. That, however, doesn't confine the scope of exchange solely to the current monetary system.

For example, there may be one or more people who have services I would need or want, and who see great value in experiencing my work. By exchanging outside the monetary system, money I would have spent on those services now becomes available for purchasing that cart full of groceries from Whole Foods.

So I'm not presenting an "either/or" scenario. Rather, a complementary relationship between the two systems...a way to think, step, and act outside the box that so many of us have found ourselves at one time or another confined by.

As I have more and more successful exchanges in this type of barter system, where all parties are uplifted by through the entire process all the way to completion, each of us leaves these exchanges with a deeper awareness of our innate Abundance, Value, and Worth...bolstering the whole system.

I do believe that developing the musculature for these types of Awareness and Exchange is crucial if we are to thrive in the times ahead. My intuition tells me that we've only seen the beginning of the crumbling of the current economic structures, an appetizer for a potentially very unpleasant meal for those dependent on the current system.

And let me be crystal clear here; I don't think this crumbling is some form of retribution or punishment for past deeds as such. I am being shown that it is part of our collective Awakening to the Truth of Who and What we Truly Are.

In the process of Awakening, illusions are exposed. Any and all illusions. The current monetary system is no longer backed up by gold. It is mere printed paper based on indebtedness. There is very little, if any, reflection of the true abundance of the natural world, and what you and I truly are. This neither makes the monetary system good or bad. It is simply a reflection of our collective conscious awareness. We are growing and realizing more expanded levels of consciousness, so our systems will mirror this phoenix-in-the-flames movement.

What's the key? The main key I see for myself is to deeply, viscerally know what I am, to honor, value, and steward This in myself, and all of life through the ways I take each and every step in my life.