When I stayed with my cousins recently they told me that they go out for breakfast every day as a way of supporting the economy. It supports the local businesses and waiters and waitresses. I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit. As a response to economic worries I know I tend to hang on to what I have got and try to be so careful, but I do feel that something in that attitude feels constricting to me; often it just feels like fear rather than practicality. If everyone constricts like that then where will we be?

Part of these considerations regard values. I don’t want to support to consumerism that is wasteful and harmful to the planet. Other than that, though, I’m thinking open hands and open hearts give all they have and are open to receive in the same way.

I am staying in a gorgeous place in Mexico now that, were I not a guest, would not be part of my experience because of the costs involved. However I see the generous spirits of people who are here. I believe that in certain ways the rich get richer because they live in a flow of abundance, and the poor will get poorer if they live in a state of fear and contraction which does not allow for flow. I do not refer to either of these concepts exclusively in terms material prosperity. I know some of the poorest people in the world who give everything they have constantly to friends and anyone who needs it. And I see how they reliably get the same back.

There is much to learn about these principles as we sort through the next years in a struggling economy. I’m trying to pay attention.