What Nature Really Teaches Us About Fair Exchange and Getting Paid
Many people believe it’s more moral—or more “natural”—to give their work away for free. After all, isn’t nature generous? Doesn’t it offer beauty, nourishment and abundance without asking for anything in return? It’s a comforting idea, but it isn’t true. Nothing in nature is actually free. Nature operates through constant exchange of energy, resources, nutrients and value. When we understand that truth, we can release guilt, fear and self-doubt that make charging for our work feel uncomfortable or unethical.
The Myth That Nature Gives Everything for Free
The beauty of nature is not freely given, and nature does not exist for your pleasure. The idea that the bounty of nature is free is a very human centred concept. Fireflies don’t shine for us, they shine to serve their own needs. Yes, we as humans can enjoy it for free, but the ecosystems of nature operate on trade. Plants do not produce flowers to look beautiful, nor do they produce fruit for us to eat. They produce them as a resource trade-off to pollinating insects, birds and animals in order to reproduce and survive as a species.
Nothing in nature is really free. It is all part of a balanced trade network. It takes a lot of energy for plants to make flowers and fruit and they do it to get something in return. Similarly, birds and animals have attractive colours and patterns in their feathers and fur for the purpose of attracting a mate, or blending with their environment to hide from predators. Fungi feed on carbon and sugars from trees and in exchange function as a resource exchange network for the trees they connect.
As a sort of payment for their services, the mycorrhizal network retains about 30% of the sugar that the connected trees generate through photosynthesis. The sugar fuels the fungi, which in turn collects phosphorus and other mineral nutrients into the mycelium, which are then transferred to and used by the trees. nationalforests.org
Trees have leaves to photosynthesize. They use energy from the sun to produce the food they need to grow and survive. Water and sunlight could also be considered forms of currency in nature. They are used and traded and cycled throughout the systems of the natural world. Trade and exchange happen as an intricate part of nature, it just uses different forms of currency to money.
Money is simply a convenient form of currency by which we can trade for goods and services within a community. In smaller communities and within nature it is possible to directly barter goods and services, but as communities grow into towns, and towns into cities, and cities into global online communities, we need standardised forms of currency to trade with in order to obtain the things we need for life and living.
The Energy You Bring to Money Shapes Your Experience of It
There is nothing inherently wrong with a system of exchange. What is destructive is imbalance or blocks within that system. This is as harmful in nature as it is in human societies. Water that does not flow becomes stagnant and toxic, and water is most energised when it is in a cyclic flow. Problems arise when the energy bought to our systems of exchange is based in fear, greed or scarcity, or is parasitic. If we equate money with appreciation, and see the flow of money as the flow of appreciation and a means of acknowledging value, then the giving and receiving of money becomes a very positive thing. This aligns with the concept of arigato in, arigato out that Ken Ford talks about in his book Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money. Arigato means “thank you” in Japanese and this is the simple practice of thanking money when it comes in to you and thanking it when it goes out from you while being mindful of all you have received from it. For example, pausing to say “arigato/thank you” as you pay your electricity bill with gratitude that having electricity has allowed you to cook, have light at night, use your computer, have hot water and so on. It is about being thankful for all you have received from the exchange of money for goods and services. Money itself is a neutral form of exchange. We imbue it with energy. Freedom doesn’t come by avoiding dealing with money and seeing it as evil or corrupt. Freedom comes from learning how to flow money with the energy of appreciation.
Why So Many People Feel Uncomfortable Charging for Their Work
I get that capitalism can cause people to go over to the dark side and charge excessive prices, however, I also believe that paying people is a way of valuing them. Moreover, charging for your work flows from valuing yourself. While the love of money may be the root of all evil, the Bible also notes that a worker is worth their wages.
For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.” – The Bible, 1 Timothy 5:18
Many people find it uncomfortable to ask for payment for their work and for people pleasers it can be even more challenging. The natural tendency of people pleasing behaviour is to give without asking for anything in return. It is curious that people can feel anxious about asking for payment for their work, but okay with paying for anything that they buy at a shop. Somehow, we accept that it is normal and right to pay for things at a store, but have an ethical dilemma about charging for our own products and services. I think that this has two major roots: one is the belief that asking for money is uncomfortable and wrong, and the other is that we don’t value ourselves enough. We can fear being seen as ungenerous, or capitalist or money hungry. We can fear the idea of being commercialised. We can also fear that what we offer is not worth paying for; that it is not good enough or not as good as other things on offer. We can fear or believe that we are not good enough ourselves. When you value yourself and recognise the value of what you offer, then you feel comfortable charging for it. Giving yourself permission to be paid is a form of self-care.
The fear and belief that you are not enough is a common one. I understand. I also have the voice inside me that points out why I am not enough to do things, or why what I do is not of enough value. So to both myself and you I say,
You are worthy of being paid fairly for what you do.
Even if your work is not yet perfect or top level.
Even if you are not perfect.
Some people buy from budget stores and some people buy from Rodeo Drive stores. There is a market for your work wherever it falls along the spectrum. Everyone has to start at a beginner level and learn and grow. You deserve to be paid while you do that as an exchange for the time and energy you have expended and the value you have added. Also, be aware that your work may be closer to Rodeo Drive level than you can recognise for yourself.
Is Giving Your Work Away Always Self-Abandonment?
Does this mean you do nothing for free because doing things for free always means that you are self-abandoning? No, it doesn’t. If you are in a place where you can and want to offer your work for free then go for it. I am not saying that you should charge for everything. Remember that healthy systems of exchange are ones with balanced, cyclic flow; arigato in, arigato out. What I am inviting you to consider is the reasons why you don’t charge, or don’t charge enough, for the work that you are offering as your desired means of income, and proposing some alternative viewpoints that may help you release limiting blocks you may have in regards to receiving money for your work. What I am saying is that the goodness of nature does not equate to everything being given for free, so let’s not put that on ourselves as an ethical expectation of “this is what good people do”.
Healing Money Blocks and Shifting Into Balanced Flow
Most of us grow up with limiting beliefs around money. Many people fear money, see it as ungodly, or a cause of corruption, or feel uncomfortable receiving it if they don’t think they have earned it. However, most of us also desire to have lots of it, and the reality is that we need money to live in modern societies. All this creates a push/pull split energy towards money. Is your money energy open and appreciative, or fearful and judgemental? Or both? Try this experiment. Read the focus statements below and notice what you think and feel in response to them, including any response in your body like tightening or relaxing:
Money is the energy of support, appreciation, value and freedom
I am worthy of receiving unlimited wealth and success
I give myself permission to prosper
It is safe right and good to have what I want
I bless people with money
Wherever you noticed resistance to these statements it is likely that you have a block to the flow of money in your life. The focus statements above about money, abundance and success were a few of the long list in the appendix of my book The Great Life Planner. You can use these to set positive intentions or as journaling prompts as I have done in this post. There is also a chapter in the book about how to release limiting thoughts and beliefs which goes into far more detail about ways to do this than I can go into in this post. You can read more about the book here.
The Real Connection Between Nature, Value and Choice
Being in harmony with nature does not equate with giving everything for free. Giving your work away for free is a personal decision not a moral one. What is important is what your beliefs are underlying your decision. Are you giving because you think you should, or because you are afraid to ask for payment, or because you don’t think that what you offer is worth payment? Or, are you giving freely from a place of appreciation, worthiness and balanced flow?
This makes me think about why I am offering this post for free. It is by conscious choice, partly because writing these posts is also a means of deepening my own understanding, and partly to create connection with others.
That is the exchange.
Aroha nui, much love
Janine
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