Monday, September 10, 2007

Taboo, By shegazelle

Dear partakers of this hearty, sumptuous fare-Myndfood: I extended, recently, an invitation to a fellow blogger, shegazelle, whom I admire greatly, to write a guest post for publication here on Myndfood. She obliged, and I present here, in it's entirety, an essay that perfectly encapsulates the theme of her blog, Normal is BROKE, I wanna be WEIRD.

taboo, n.- a prohibition imposed by social custom or as a protective measure

Such is the subject of money. And why? Is it because differing philosophies on the subject may give way to a disagreement? We talk of politics regularly in our society, and disagreements on that subject don’t seem to deter from the discussion of it.

For some reason, the discussion of money seems to be generally forbidden. With one exception- it’s always ok for one to proclaim they are broke. Strange. It’s acceptable in the office lunch room to say you are broke, but somehow it’s not ok to say your financial plan is working better than you had planned.

I’ve feigned ignorance long enough in this post. The bottom line is this: Americans in general have no plan for their money, have no financial education and are BROKE- and they don’t want to talk about it.

Well, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of being a part of the club where no one talks about maxing out their Roth IRA for the year, where everyone has a lot of “stuff” they’ve financed (and are revered as “well-to-do”,) and no one has a dime saved for an emergency. Normal is broke, and folks, I want to be WEIRD.

I have committed myself to a life free from debt and filled with wise investments, but somehow, the people with more and newer “stuff” around me at my place of work are receiving the kudos. It’s a real good thing I don’t care what they think, otherwise I’d surely get peeved every time a coworker asks with a taunting tone, “Did you have enough in your envelope for that?”

Somehow the silence has to be broken, and I believe that slowly it is. There is a sect that has become nauseous with their low financial IQ, and are doing something about it. I recently read a book by a very wealthy man that stated people who have money, talk about money. People that don’t, act like stinking ostriches with their head in the sand.

It’s a shame that people who are winning with money have to wait until people are financially hemorrhaging before they can share the very plan that would have stopped the initial bleeding.

Not only am I willing to talk about money experiences and principals, I am eager to listen to others with a plan for their money.

I challenge you to start the conversation where you can, whenever you can.

I have found it is easier to breathe when you pull your head out of the sand.


shegazelle is an outspoken critic of the "American Way"-that is, the credit trap, and strongly advocates debt-free living. She posts about it regularly on her blog, Normal is BROKE, I wanna be Weird. Look for future posts from shegazelle here on Myndfood.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read recently that when one decides to become a winner his circle of friends usually changes before long. For one cannot continue to hang around ostriches and expect to fly like and eagle. "Birds of a feather", right?
Change for the better is not easy, for if it were we would all be sitting on the peaks. Only those who are willing to pay the price and take the ridicule of the weak will make it.
Absolutely marvelous post Shegazelle! Fly girl,fly!!!

PJ said...

Hear, Hear!

Again, fantastic! A post perfectly aligned with the spirit of Myndfood!

Thanks again, shegazelle!

SheGazelle said...

I am trying to fly, in fact, I am flapping my wings wildly at the moment. Wait till you read about my visit from Murphy...