Heidemarie Schwermer, a 63-year-old German woman, has lived without money for the last ten years, and has written a book about her experiences called My life without money.
At the age of 54 Heidemarie gave up her job as a psychotherapist, gave away all her money and her flat and threw away her credit cards. Today, apart from a few clothes (three sweaters, two skirts, two pairs of shoes, and a coat) and a few personal belongings, she doesn´t own anything.
It all began as a one-year experiment. In her home city of Dortmund she set up a "swapping circle" where people swap services without using money, for example, a haircut for a mathematics class. To prove that this could work she decided to give up using money for a year. But when the year ended she contiued and has not used money since then.
At first she house-sat for friends who were on holiday. She stayed in their house in return for watering the plants and looking after their animals. At the moment she is staying in a student residence where she can sleep, have a shower, or use a computer in return for cooking for the young people who live there. She also "works" as a psychotherapist. `Before I treated very wealthy people but now I help anyone who turns up. Sometimes they give me something in return, but not always.´
Heidemarie says, `I can live thanks to my contacts. A lot of people who know me understand what I´m doing and want to help me. When I need a bus ticket, for example, or a new tube of toothpaste I think, "Who can I ask? What can I give them in return?" If I want to go to the cinema, I might offer to look after somebody´s children for the afternoon.
It is one of the mistakes of our society that most people do something they don´t like just to earn money and spend it on things they don´t need. Many people judge you according to how much you earn. In my opinion, all jobs are equally important. You may not earn a lot of money but you may be worth a lot as a person. That´s my message.´
So what did she do with all the money she earned from the sales of My life without money?
`I gave it all away...´
I think it's interesting, changing favours with other people. But if you want to live on changing favours you have to know a lot of people, Nevertheless, money is an useful thing.
ResponderEliminarMis palabras favoritas: CONTACTOS (fundamental, no solo para vivir sin dinero, sino para poder conseguirlo), INTERCAMBIO (todos tenemos cualidades que nos hacen valiosos frente a los demas, debo aprovecharme de esto).¿QUE PUEDO HACER PARA CONSEGUIR....? (pensar antes de actuar). Muy buena lección Loli.
ResponderEliminarOPINO LO MISMO QUE ALICIA......
ResponderEliminar