You might not think that the words bartering and abundance go hand in hand; but a recent experience in my bartering journey really did blow my mind….
I started this journey over 3 years ago, with the decision to work by donation and donations are not always cash! Some of the exchanges are an agreed barter and it feels great when no money changes hands – there’s a different energy that makes you realise that there is something subtly constraining about the use of money when we transact. We are so used to it that we do not notice it…. until it is absent.
I am semi-retired, I own my own home and I have savings in the bank; so I had a big financial cushion when I embarked on my donations journey; and I fully appreciate that is not the case for most people. But there is definitely a financial argument for bartering (apart from the fact that it is tax free!) In exchange for my services (trauma healing), I’ve had a set of luxury curtains made, a bespoke, tailor-made, co-designed skirt, gluten-free cake, homemade cookies, jams, veg boxes delivered to my home, plants and organic horse manure for my garden and more. But yesterday was the icing on the cake:
One of my dear bartering friends turned up for our exchange. The first thing that happened was I offered her some nettles: Yes, I’ve got nettles taking over a bit more of my garden than I’d like, and she wants to grow nettles for her tortoise! While we were outside, she noticed my kale and proceeded to give me her favourite kale recipe. It’s so delicious, I can’t not share it with you:
Raw Kale delight
1 small bunch shredded kale
A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt
Massage together with your hands to soften and release the enzymes that aid digestion. Leave for an hour and then add the dressing:
One tablespoon tahini, plus honey and lime or lemon juice to taste and water as needed to mix to a good consistency. Pour the dressing over the kale and again massage in with your hands. Lastly, sprinkle over ¼ – ½ a pomegranate seeds (or some chopped orange) and it is ready to eat.
The next bit of our bartering was some sewing tips to help me get an up-cycling project off the ground. But just then my home-schooled teenager joined us with some questions about a clothing design he’s come up with. Dear friend proceeded to give a passionate introduction to fashion design, complete with sample miniature patterns cut out of an old envelope! Meanwhile I prepared the salad for our lunch together. As I watched them and saw how my son’s face lit up in response to her demonstration, to be honest I couldn’t put a price on that: My son’s Dad died unexpectedly and not that long ago and things have been challenging for him to say the least.
When the pattern-cutting demo was over, we went upstairs for a trauma/counselling session, which ended with me also offering couples counselling for her relationship challenges. As we returned downstairs I spied the large and rather neglected aloe vera plant, which had been taking over my bathroom, and offered it to her. She was delighted to take it, but told me it was worth a lot of money and I had to agree that if I changed my mind I could have it back! I have since acquired another aloe vera plant (much smaller!) from a different friend and am much happier with our new bathroom guest.
As she was leaving, dear friend also reminded me that she has bought a PEMF machine and said that I was welcome to come for a session. That was the end of her visit and I didn’t respond to the offer as I didn’t have much understanding of what that machine could do for me.
But it didn’t end there my friends….. As I switched my phone back on, I saw a message from the cranial-sacral therapist I had booked for a home visit to my 97 year old Father, who recently had a bad fall and though in a lot of pain is still managing to live at home. This was her first visit and she had some suggestions to help with the pain, and blow me if the last one on the list wasn’t PEMF therapy! With some trepidation (these are quite expensive machines and I’d heard that she was using it daily), I messaged my friend requesting a 48 hour loan of the machine. She agreed…. And I proceeded to make her some chocolates 🙂
The whole experience was one of flow: effortless and joyful: real abundance.
