The Wealth Weaver

Today I received an email encouraging the initiation of a new tradition for the coming Christmas season.  Buying gift certificates from local SERVICE merchants.  A local car wash, a massage, a computer tune-up instead of purchasing products that are MADE IN CHINA.

I wholly endorse this recommendation. However, I endorse it for a different economic reason. My enthusiasm moves towards the likes of www.smallbusinesssaturday.com.

My mother lives in an assisted living facility so she can remain as independent as possible with her dementia.  She called me this morning – yes, that is rare – and she was over-the-top happy.  She had gotten a hair cut and her mood and outlook on life were on a high I have not seen for years.

It is not just about the hair.  What was obvious to me was the human connection had picked up her spirits.  Beverly D of www.beverlyd.com, and creator of Beverly D Luxe Organic Hair Nutrition, agrees.  As the hair designer she knows that there is more than a haircut that happens in that service transaction.  “I am the coach, the ear that listens, the friend, and the hairdresser.  It is the connection that makes people feel better about themselves and their lives.  Hair is the excuse that brings us together.”

I don’t know any people in China and I am sure that if I got to know them personally I would enjoy them.  I do know a lot of Americans who are suffering and I DO NOT BELIEVE their suffering is economic.  I believe THE LACK OF CONNECTION has a financial impact.

Our economic recovery will fail if we make it just about the money.  Let’s reach for the bigger picture.  We need to rebuild our infra-structure, the person-to-person connections that begin in our own backyard.  How can we stand for any United vision if we don’t even know the merchant/person across the street?

We have become socially lazy.  We text instead of talk, we raise our voices in protest rather than raise a “barn” with our neighbor.  We live lives of desperate isolation where the TV and internet are our virtual realities, rather than enter the virtuous circle of United We Stand and Serve each other.

What is your economic recovery plan for this Christmas?