blessings, tara. i like the way your journey is unfolding.

An abundance gap.

I got the chance spend a few hours with and ask a billionaire what it was like to be truly wealthy. He gave me an analogy.

What is the one thing asthmatics think about during an episode?

Air, and the next breath.

Most people have that same relationship with money. Where is my next fix coming from.

He simple stated, “I haven’t given money any real thought in over 30 years. It simply plays no role in my life.”

I have to admit there is an appeal there that draws me like a moth to fire. To chase my dreams unhampered by the restrictions of income. To travel with my lady. To build an entrepreneurial program for teens.

Where does that abundance gap sit though? Is it enough to have the basics, or enough to feel the freedom to chase the dreams? Could it be that most of us never truly know the second one?

Anyways, I’m rambling. Thanks for the book recommendation.

This is my paraphrase. He said that I-It relationships have a narrative. They have a past and future. I-Thou relationships are without time. They exist only in the present. They are free from planning. Free from scheming or manipulation. They just are, and as you get closer to pure “relating,” you become more focused on the exchange of knowledge and/or emotion and less focused on the relationship as, as you say, an object. (He says that the purest I-Thou is Man and God, speaking of higher purpose.)

For those seeking I-Thou relationships, I think that’s a good way to approach it. Am I tuning out my business plans and money goals in order to just plain relate? Am I thinking about what I can get in the future while holding a conversation in the present.

(Coincidently, this whole thing also speaks to your principle of embracing chaos.)

Anyway, thanks for reminding me how cool Buber is. And thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with all of us.

In my own personal life if I begin to see more problems than solutions, I stop and begin to hold gratitude for what I have. This change in focus brings more of what I enjoy and treasure. It is an anchor for keeping me focused on love.

Thank you for starting this wonderful project. I look forward to being involved. By the way October 27 is national make a difference day, perhaps this could be a day to ignite this project.

Annie Lawrence http://loveambassador.blogspot.com

You are, as always brilliant. I truly feel awe-inspired by this post, and yet again you’ve restored my belief that there are some people in marketing that promote good not evil.

I think a site like Etsy (and I don’t work for Etsy) is a good example of love to spread. It removes the ‘consumer’ and ‘user’ relationship, and creates a relationship between buyer and seller that no multi-national could ever compete with.

It’s about power to the people. Carpooling sites like zimride.com and stuff-renting sites like rentoid.com are part of it too. Any service (and there’s a lot more of them popping up now we are internet-ly and web 2.0-et connected) that promotes the I-You thing are worthy for inclusion in the spreadthelove project.

Great, Really great stuff Tara.

Have you read Stumbling on Happiness by Dan Gilbert? It’s awesome. I know that not having money sucks, but I figured out when I had enough money and then stopped worrying. I think someone calls this the abundance gap (after you make a certain amount, anything above that doesn’t change your happiness, so why stress out to make more?).

Tara