What does wealth mean to you?
Nov 10, 2020
By Esther Veltheim
The word "wealth" is derived from Old English. "Weal" signifies "wellbeing" and "th" signifies "condition." In other words, the original meaning of the word "wealth" was "the condition of well-being."
It is hard to fathom how we got from wealth as a condition of well-being to the connotations that many of us have, which is wealth as something only certain people can have or wealth as a limited commodity.
In an archived post on the BreakThrough forum, Esther Veltheim shares some personal memories about her own connotations for Wealth.
I am staggering downstairs my arms full of toys, in a big box. I am at the front door, propping the box on my brand new scooter, when my mother stops me. "What are you doing?!?" I tell her that there are two little girls who are living down the street who are orphans, "they have no toys so I'm giving them mine." I remember feeling incredibly guilty as a little six or seven year old, because I had so much.
A little boy at school, one I really like, asks me what my father does for a living. My Dad is in advertising and not actually rich at all, but I tell him "he's a rubbish collector." I don't want my friend to think that we have more than him.
It really surprises me in this moment how my childhood connotations are evoking as many images and memories as this. They all revolve around the fear of anyone thinking I am better than them because I have more.
And then comes the memory that has stuck with me all my life ... I am very small, sitting on the floor of our living room gazing at the full moon. My father comes in shouting and rushes over to the window pulling the curtains shut. I ask him "But why Daddy, the moon is so beautiful!?" and he tells me "people will see the moon shining on our silver and could try to steal it!"
In that moment, owning things came to signify not being able to see the moon anymore and being shut off from the beauty in the world. Much of my adult life I have remained as possession-free as possible. For many years, I refused to own more that 12 pounds of luggage. My connotations for wealth and my fear of owning things really possessed me.
Our connotations, our own personal understanding of words, evoke strong feelings in all of us.
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It is hard to fathom how we got from wealth as a condition of well-being to the connotations that many of us have, which is wealth as something only certain people can have or wealth as a limited commodity.
In an archived post on the BreakThrough forum, Esther Veltheim shares some personal memories about her own connotations for Wealth.
I am staggering downstairs my arms full of toys, in a big box. I am at the front door, propping the box on my brand new scooter, when my mother stops me. "What are you doing?!?" I tell her that there are two little girls who are living down the street who are orphans, "they have no toys so I'm giving them mine." I remember feeling incredibly guilty as a little six or seven year old, because I had so much.
A little boy at school, one I really like, asks me what my father does for a living. My Dad is in advertising and not actually rich at all, but I tell him "he's a rubbish collector." I don't want my friend to think that we have more than him.
It really surprises me in this moment how my childhood connotations are evoking as many images and memories as this. They all revolve around the fear of anyone thinking I am better than them because I have more.
And then comes the memory that has stuck with me all my life ... I am very small, sitting on the floor of our living room gazing at the full moon. My father comes in shouting and rushes over to the window pulling the curtains shut. I ask him "But why Daddy, the moon is so beautiful!?" and he tells me "people will see the moon shining on our silver and could try to steal it!"
In that moment, owning things came to signify not being able to see the moon anymore and being shut off from the beauty in the world. Much of my adult life I have remained as possession-free as possible. For many years, I refused to own more that 12 pounds of luggage. My connotations for wealth and my fear of owning things really possessed me.
Our connotations, our own personal understanding of words, evoke strong feelings in all of us.
You cannot hurt anyone with BodyTalk. If you perform a technique incorrectly, it simply means there will be no result or change. It will not make the situation worse.