| Compersion |
A moneyless society is something I think is totally attainable, within a short term period, because we already are doing so much for free already in our lives simply for the reward of giving it. Do you charge someone on the street for directions? Do you charge a friend for your time to listen to them? Do you charge your family for all the things you do for them? Probably not. While it has almost disappeared from modern life, the joy of giving is still alive an well. If only we could nurture and expand this innate human drive to give.
Compersion, an empathetic act of filling yourself with joy simply by observing the joy of another, is a wonderful term for this idea.
I couldn’t help but notice the word Compersion also looks like the word Compassion. And Compassion has the word compass in it. Maybe the people who developed the English language where trying to tell us something? Maybe compassion and empathy are the compass or guide to higher consciousness and global peace?
I had a thought that Compersion is going to be the thing that enables us to enter a moneyless society. Imagine what a world based on the joy of giving would look like!
Instead of people being forced to get a job to earn a living (what nonsense!) we can simply find our highest joy, and give that to everyone who is willing to receive it. That may sound crazy at first, but when you consider the diversity of beings on earth and how many different ways each individual creates happiness via their actions in the world, it is easy to imagine everyone switching over to doing their highest joy, and all our worldly needs being met. That doesn’t mean challenges won’t be present but as we move through them we will be growing within by leaps and bounds and living our highest joys at the same time. At the very least, we’ll be much happier and this positive vibe—in and of itself—is incredibly healing and uplifting for others. Just simply smiling at another person can transform their day.
Amanda Palmer enjoys making music and performing, and through her outpouring of giving, she has gathered following of individuals who want to co-create with her, giving their energy back to form a complete cycle. That energy comes in many forms, and money is one of them.
Money is simply a tool, despite its effects in the world being arguably negative. Money in this case, is literally a symbol, one way her fans and admirers can show their love and appreciation: a complete exchange of value.
The joy of giving freely comes with its own reward. Imagine if everyone gave of themselves freely? Everyone would be abundant in nearly every respect as the creative powers hidden away within each of us blossoms into life. It is this false idea of scarcity (survival of the fitist) that cripples us with fear, preventing our creative powers from coming to the fore.
But if we can make that first step of living in the moment and giving to others in a pay it forward capacity, we can help lay the foundation for a new society, one based on love, compassion and the common bond we all share living the same blue planet.
Published on Jul 9, 2012
Charles Eisenstein is the author of The Ascent of Humanity and Sacred Economics as well as numerous articles in print and online. A faculty member of Goddard College, he speaks and teaches worldwide on themes of transition, community, money, consciousness, and the evolution of culture. Charles has also been featured on the viral video by filmmaker Ian MacKenzie, “The Revolution is Love.”
Before becoming a writer, he was a Chinese-English translator living in Taiwan. He graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a degree in mathematics and philosophy.
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