i'm a channel and i don't feel comfortable charging money
and i sing and play and don't feel comfortable charging money

i suppose that's fine?
and if it changes it's fine too?
i really am figuring this out as i'm typing...
that's so funny

hehehehe

well, mission accomplished!

shamsiruhe wrote:
i'm a channel and i don't feel comfortable charging money
and i sing and play and don't feel comfortable charging money


This is an age old discussion - there are quite a few people who feel that timeless spiritual aid shouldn't be charged for. On the other hand, exchanging energy is absolutely necessary and keeps the energy flow going.

I'd say that if you don't feel comfortable charging money, there's likely a part of you that doesn't appreciate what you offer, because in this society money is tied to value. I don't know anything about you, but I imagine you do bring a gift.

(This isn't the same as someone comfortable with charging money who simply chooses not to. That can be wonderful in itself.)

This society has a way of not valuing soul-driven charity work. We pay executives untold riches for maximizing profits in destructive way, yet can feel the person helping the homeless should be a volunteer or low-paid charity worker.

In the long view (many many years ahead), from channeling, I get a sense that eventually we'll be in a society where everyone simply has all their needs and their simple wants as a given. (There is a reason the current job climate has been called "wage slavery" Much of the economy and communities will have to be restructured, so this will be in hundreds of years and not in our lifetimes. But with more freedom and less fear, the natural impulse and desire to help each other, building community, will become the norm rather than the exception. And since people will already have all they need, there won't be charges in the same way.

But in the present time for most people, money is needed to survive. If personal channeling helps as much as a bunch of psychotherapy sessions (and it often does), why is there a problem with charging?

Yes, it can be a difficult question, one that almost every healer or spiritual practitioner thinks about. The lines of thinking tend to go like this:

Q. I'm offering something that, in theory, everyone has access to. Why should I charge for something everyone can do?

A. Because not everyone quite can. Or they benefit from a perspective they might not be reaching on their own. Or you can help shift them into a different place, from which they can access their own wisdom.

Q. Shouldn't I just trust the universe to provide for me if I am doing 'good work'?

A. Yes, that works for some people. It could work for you! But the way of it working, finding that place of trust, is a journey in itself.

Q. The people I want to help don't have money.

A. A sliding scale can work nicely. Whatever works for you.


There's a line of thinking that says that healing of any sort requires some sort of exchange, whether it's money or barter or simply the love that's exchanged when healing a family member. I believe there *is* always an exchange of some sort, not that it is required for healing to take place, but simply that an exchange exists. And as Matthew pointed out, healers and spiritual practitioners have to eat, too.

But I really love the shift you felt while typing your question ... of course you can choose now, and of course you can change your mind later! The money issue is likely to change as your path does.

Great question, thank you!

Karen

i am going to start charging for both.
going very very slowly at first.
although i will say, i've lived well when i've believed in my own worth.
people will always come to me for spiritual guidance and ask me to play shows, it's up to me to just practice.

i did a session yesterday for twenty minutes and was brought a bottle of blueberry meade. then i found a beautiful chest of drawers sitting perfectly by a dumpster and found an obliging man to carry it into my house for me.

and then it rained.

all in all, a good day.
and i think both of your gentleness and non-judgement, as well as my own subtle shift in thinking, is already moving the field of energy around me. for the better.