Past Work: The Prosperity Collection

THE PROSPERITY COLLECTION
Released October 2022

Diamonds, champagne, square footage and compound interest. These are a few things tied to a western/modern take on prosperity. 

What about land, story, relations, and healing? People across age, race, and religion all have different definitions of what a prosperous life entails. This collection is inspired by the drive to share an emerging narrative of prosperity. An indigenous narrative. A remembering. We are also curious and to explore how to find a balance of both views. We live in a world where money can support community wellness and self-wellness. So where is the balance?

Have you ever considered money trauma? Most of us have some minor or major trauma responses when it comes to finances. The path of self-exploration around your own money story is not something our society promotes. And there is no one story. Many aspects such as race, demographic, economic standing (inherited and imposed), trauma, cultural history, etc. play into our money story.

[Taylor here] I recently graduated from a program called @traumaofmoney It consisted of 50 hours of class and lots of self-reflection homework. And even still, we only scratched the surface of this vast knowledge system / way of being. The Trauma of Money is a method to reframe your connection to wealth. And it goes DEEP. Much of the work is focused on your early experience with money, how your parents interacted with money, the role money plays in your life (i.e does it soothe you, does it scare you, does it protect you?), and all of this is done with a somatic lens.

This course and way of thinking created a variety of reflections to come up;

- What was the role of money for my ancestors?
- What role does money play in wealth?
- What if money expired? How would we treat it?
- What relationship do time + money have?
- Do you hold a fear of being wealthy?
- Do you think you deserve wealth?

The work to undo your own money narratives in order to make room for new ones is deep, intergenerational, and requires an investment of time and emotion. But it is so important. We assigned this story with the Warrior because this path requires courage and vulnerability; admirable characteristics of a warrior.

Have you ever considered story as a source of wealth? Indigenous communities and people honour and protect our stories. To this day, many stories are only passed orally and not written anywhere. Richard Wagamese, an Ojibwe master storyteller explains the value of story better than we ever could in the following statement 

“All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here: you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship - we change the world one story at a time.” 

What role does story play in your definition of prosperity & wealth? 

Capitalism is essentially a dislocation from our essential self. The framework of capitalism does not allow us to show up as our true selves. We are taught to give ourselves up to labour for this thing called money that we only need because we decided we “need” it. Then we buy things we think we want and need, but do we really? It’s all architected around us. Our consumer behaviour is programmed. And really, money is just an idea. It's part of the mainstream paradigm.

In the Indiginomics book, Dr. Dara Kelly states “There are two paradigms at play when we think of wealth and poverty. This idea of “walking in two worlds” is common language within our communities. It is very tangible when communities are aware of being impoverished within a dominant paradigm and being very wealthy within an Indigenous paradigm.”

This holding of multiple paradigms is complex and requires complex solutions and nuanced thinking (not something our societies are groomed to enjoy or opt for). How can we build the tools to see through the smoke of the capitalism paradigm to see things for what they are? How can we ensure we are tuned into our true needs/desires/pleasures? Ultimately, where is the space where we can be wealthy & prosper in a ‘good way'?

Woven into every Indigenous worldview from east to west and north to south is the concept of oneness; that everything is one and interconnected. This is the place where indigenous wealth is born. It is the root of how communities operate, how to govern oneself, how to be in relation with other living beings, how to pass on knowledge and how to make intergenerational decisions. It is a guide post on how to be. 

When colonization systematically disconnected indigenous people from land on turtle island, it created a disconnection to self. Land is an extension of self. As we heal the land we heal ourselves; as we heal ourselves we heal the land. 

From a rights & treaty perspective; a new wave is coming of land back. Indigenous folks are resourcing themselves, they are fighting in court, and they are winning. Although this is good, it is still disheartening the effort and resources that need to pour in for the fight. But the fight for land is the fight for self; and the fight for future generations. 

The Blossom design is connected to the womb space (regardless of gender, we all have a womb space). It is from this space we can harness the power to transmute. Scarcity is one of the most insidious mindsets in the modern world. We are tricked to believe that there is not enough, that we are not enough, that we have to work hard to prove our worth. Scarcity is the root of so many self-limiting beliefs. It keeps us stuck. It keeps us small.  

Scarcity keeps us disconnected from the care we need, the pleasure we deserve, and the liberation our soul desires. 

Scarcity affects us all, but for BIPOC communities and individuals systemic economic exclusion has been a reality for generations and still lingers today. On top of that, there is a battle against white supremacist narratives that you are lazy if you are not busting your ass. This creates an environment where you neglect yourself and are participating eagerly in “hustle culture”. 

How can we even think about pleasure and liberation if our needs are being pushed aside? This is the strategic game of capitalism. How can we find ways to prioritize care, access pleasure, and ultimately live in liberation?