Do You Take Payment in Soul Currency?

Last week at some point, Angela from Tread LIghtly Retire Early tweeted about giving time versus money and it reminded me of what I did with my time when I wasn’t working.

Recently in the Discord group, we were talking about how just being “retired” or not having a purpose in life wasn’t very fulfilling either. Getting to a point that you can “not work” doesn’t mean the absence of work was the goal. So, what do you do to feel fulfilled? Years ago, I wrote a post about a japanese concept called “ikigai”, pronounced “icky guy”, that translates to “reason for being” or having meaning in your life. I go into it more in that post, but essentially, without some meaning or purpose to wake up for everyday, your life will be shorter and people without an ikigai reported being more unhappy than their peers with a purpose.

This brings me back to “soul currency”. I found that when I was unemployed and being a SAHD, I got lots of rewarding feelings from volunteering at the kids elementary school as a sub, Watch D.O.G., PTA, general volunteer to set up and run events, volunteer at Scouts assisting running a den, and setting up and running events, and even as a CASA, court appointed special advocate for kids in the foster system. For me, that gave me a lot to wake up and look forward to each day. IF there wasn’t anything going on with either of those things, I had my hobbies and clearing the property to look forward too. Honestly, just because I wasn’t working a 9-5 I found it was easier to get as committed or over committed without a job. Here’s why I liked doing all of that for free.

Volunteering: It’s Not Always Good

Anyone that has ever volunteered, or worse yet, been “volun-told” to do something has probably had some disappointment with that experience. That’s not to say all volunteering sucks, because that’s not the case either, but I get it if you have been disappointed with a volunteer experience. It has been the case for me, even in the organizations I have mentioned above. Volunteering isn’t all sunshine and roses, and it’s not all fun, but I found that it clicked with me, even on the bad days. There were times that made me want to stop volunteering, one of which was the first time I’d subbed for 5th graders at the elementary school.

 

To be fair, I was mentally prepared for pre-k or maybe even 1st grade that day, and I was NOT in the mindset to deal with mini-teens when I got swapped from the easy class to the 5th graders… Also, I still came back and subbed for those little demons, erm, lovely children that next Monday and multiple days since then and they went much better. Even having different expectations than what might actually can occur can also taint your volunteering experience. I’ve had that happen before too. There’s a lot that can tend to make these experiences offsetting, but I found that I tend to get a lot more positive feedback from these experiences than I get anxiety, grief, or negative returns.

Soul Currency: Better than Money

Like the answer to Angela’s question, I also tend to undervalue the time I give versus my money, because for me, I earned that money and can give it away. It’s tangible, it doesn’t have much emotional bond with me and I know how some of it can lower others anxieties. Sure, I have no problem giving away money. I find I’d give SO much more time away than money, and like Angela, was wondering, but why?? Why would I hesitate about writing a monetary donation to Scouts, but I’ll show up there and spend over 8 hrs prepping, setting up, helping run, and then breaking down and cleaning up events?

I get something back when I volunteer. If you think about it like currency, because personal finance and everything is money related, then let’s talk money. I see my soul as a bank account of sorts. When it’s full and there aren’t any deficits, debits, or liens against what’s in that account, I’m a happy fulfilled person. When it’s empty, or negative I get grumpy, frustrated, unhappy and generally not pleasant to be around, until it gets refilled.

Much like a bank account, I refer to what fills it as “soul currency”. Some people and events take more currency to deal with and create a deficit and other people and events add to it and refill my account balance. When things actually add to that account and refill it, then I value those things way more than money. What I get in return is more valuable to me than money. Money can’t buy that feeling. Okay, maybe for a split second with retail therapy, but it’s a horrible addiction and much like addiction, it takes more and more to sustain that feeling and eventually, it’s just not even worth it. In a much more sustainable model, I found events like helping people, volunteering, and even donating money when I can’t help in person, gave me that same feeling and it lasted much longer than retail therapy. Sidenote: I was a big retail therapy subscriber back in the day. I ended up with lots of crap I didn’t need or even want, but I wanted that feeling and it wasn’t sustainable.

The day after an event I would still have happiness and soul currency left over from the night before. When I would show up to help plan events for the school, and then get them setup, and watch everyone enjoy themselves during those events, and you get to the point of breaking it down and cleaning up, I’d always have a refill in my “soul bank account”. This is where soul currency comes in for me. This is that feeling that you get when you feel your soul getting refilled with hope, happiness, the belief that things can be better. For me, I get that feeling when I help people. Whether it’s school volunteering, whether it’s talking through life and its issues with a client when I worked at DHS, just being a non-judgy active listener can be all someone needs, if I can do it, I try to offer help whenever I can.

It’s Not Just Volunteering

That’s not to say, you can only get this feeling through volunteering though, at least not for me. I also get it when I get home and ge to sit down and snuggle with Bolt, my dog. When I go out to the garden and see things growing, or the same with the flowerbeds, and weeding, or hiking, or fishing. All of these things give me soul currency to some degree, because they positively add to and refill my soul. Hanging out with my kids is like a supercharge filling of that account. Just getting a hug, hearing I love you, and seeing their smiles can refill the emptiest account of mine.

This guy refills my soul a lot too
These guys refilll my soul a LOT!

Like I’ve said, if I became independently wealthy with stonks, lottery, or just waiting another 17 years, lol, I’d get back to doing what I did so much of when we moved here. That was a great lifestyle! I had an ikigai, or purpose, I had free time, I got as much out of it or more, than the organizations I was volunteering for and working with.

I found that even doing little things here and there helping neighbors, friends, pretty much anyone rewards me in the same way. Even teaching. I find teaching is very rewarding in that same way. Whether I’m teaching petroleum geology, scouting, personal finance stuff, or just showing someone how to fix something at their house. I like helping people in general, I suppose.

What about you? Do you have things that you do that give you that soul recharge; refill your bank account with some soul currency? Are they different than volunteering? When did you discover these things about yourself? I didn’t know I was big into volunteering until I was in my 40’s. Before that, I just knew I liked to help people.I’d love to hear about your experiences with this. Do you even have anything that feeds your soul? If not, how?!