“It is your work that is making many people in the world of business to rethink what business and development is all about and today we see that business is not just profit, but profit plus and it is the emphasis on the plus that is changing today the world of business and I believe that essentially we know that many people are looking for the business entrepreneur. That entrepreneur knows markets, finance, cost, strategy but essentially the world is moving now one notch further, which is the social entrepreneur. The entrepreneur that really understand that business is people and people is business…” –Yogi Bhajan, June 16, 2001[1]
This Aquarian economy is a labyrinth of possibilities if only we can circumnavigate our doubts!
The economic crash of 2008 was more than a geopolitical crisis; it was a global insignia that the curtain was closing on the Age of Pisces. There is no greater signifier for the denouement of an era defined by institutions and hierarchy than when that era’s financial systems collapse. Harrowing as the years that followed were for many people, from the ash-heap of institutional failures arose an inspiration of personal ingenuity, or as I like to call it “Aquarian Entrepreneurship”. No longer could we rely on traditional means to earn an income so we inventoried our passions, rallied our talents and found ways to make money doings things on our own terms.
What was actually happening was beyond anything anyone could have imagined at the time, and perhaps is outside the current reality of many still today. The economic crash that toppled our financial establishments a decade ago was a callous harbinger for, ironically, a finer state of living: the full-scale emancipation of humanity’s potential. When frameworks collapse and leaders fail to create new boundaries in which we can operate, the onus is on each individual to figure out how to push forward. Liberation doesn’t come easy and often we’re less than graceful in claiming our own freedom. But it’s the pursuit that matters most!
A lot of us kicked the 9-to-5 and forewent comforts like healthcare and a 401-K to do something downright dicey: start a business or pursue a creative faculty. At least that’s what I did. Literally 3 months after the crash I quit my long-held job in politics and helped start a community-focused organization that promoted music, art and culture in Wichita, KS—and I started writing for some print and online publications. It was awesome! My life rocked (fitting since the organization was called ROKICT!) I was living my passion and pursuing my dreams. I was at the epicenter of this collective creative shift that was happening in my city as others were equally drawn toward harnessing their talents to push through uncertain times. I wasn’t making a lot of money, but I was really happy, and I felt like I was part of something larger than myself. This was the first time I sipped the nectar of the Age of Aquarius. I didn’t have this astrology lexicon at the time (or knowledge of kundalini yoga and the teachings of Yogi Bhajan), but I knew there was some sort of shift happening that was beyond a single place or moment.
We all want to be free, but the truth is that most of us resent having to create our destiny. It’s easier if someone else just tells us what to do and gives us a paycheck for doing it! Motivating ourselves and earning an income from our own drive is a lot harder. Hence the staggering employment woes and extreme financial hardship many faced (and still face) in the aftermath of that decade ago catalyst.
That turbulence was palpable in my life as the anxiety of these shifts have defined the last 10 years of my own journey in ways I’m just now starting to appreciate. It’s always exciting to be a pioneer. I certainly dove enthusiastically into the unknown reservoir of Aquarian entrepreneurship when I created my own job as ROKICT’s Director of Community Development. My role was connecting community, business, government, and activist leaders with artists, musicians, and other movers and shakers in the arts world. The idea was to infuse within the consciousness of the leader class the intrinsic value that original music and local art add to a city. People were really into it, too! Within a few months we’d organized a successful monthly music crawl downtown, convinced venues to showcase more live music, and populated a high-traffic website with a calendar full of creative events happening in the city. Our organization was all over the news, and more importantly the idea that local music and art mattered seemed to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Ever venue wanted to showcase local art and host a music night. Every city council member and county commissioner knew what ROKICT was all about. Wichita was on the map as an arts city. Big shifts were happening and we were all having a lot of fun. There was just one problem: myself and my business partners were basically working for free and all going broke!
There was ton of passion behind what we were doing, but no business plan guiding a model for sustainability. We did have generous people who donated or supported us with advertisement dollars, but it was difficult to scrape together enough funding to cover even minimal business expenses, let alone full-time positions. I was naïve in thinking earnesty would equate to getting financed. There was something deeper though that was the true root cause of the financial situation I was manifesting: I felt incredibly guilty doing a job I loved!
I found myself wholly uncomfortable in a self-created role without boundaries. I woke up every day with this lingering suspicion that I was doing something wrong by eschewing a “regular job” for a purpose-driven life. That guilt led me to believe that what I was doing wasn’t really “work” because I enjoyed doing it and since it wasn’t “work” I didn’t deserve to get paid for it. Therein lies a fallacy I wouldn’t discover until many years later: none of us should be “working” at all! We should all be actively engaged in our missions. The energy we bring to any dynamic effects the outcome. If we doubt that our talents are worth being paid for, we will struggle financially until we begin to truly value the gifts the universe gives us!
There’s a great deal of uncertainty that comes with being an Aquarian entrepreneur; it’s self-employment on steroids. Not only are you your own boss, setting your own pace and flow, but you’re often initiating an entirely new industry. With that comes the challenge of creating revenue streams for non-traditional services or products. Imbued into the ethos of Aquarian entrepreneurship is the truth that our individual talents are meant to serve a larger and collective common good. Therein lies the often paralyzing disconnect between the potential of expansion and the reality of finances: far too often we equate “serving the collective” with “giving away our gifts” and “common good” with “free.”
ROKICT ultimately folded due in no small part to finances. I ended up having to get a “regular” job again, but I never found satisfaction in that 9-to-5 lifestyle. Later on, I would get a chance to revisit Aquarian entrepreneurship and make good with my own lack mentality. I’ll write about that soon—and give some of the tools I use daily that power my self-guided life.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll inventory your own life and see where you aren’t giving yourself enough credit. Just as an economy drunk on excess and greed couldn’t sustain itself, a dysfunctional relationship with finances is equally untenable. It’s no surprise that it took a global crash to shake many of us to our core and reconsider how it is we make money. Your passions and gifts are needed in this emerging Aquarian economy where social capital eclipses currency. I think that’s what Yogi Bhajan was seeing when he spoke about the “social entrepreneur.”
I have made (and continue to make) a lot of mistakes in my own pursuit of being an Aquarian entrepreneur. But I don’t undercut my value anymore and I ask for what I need financially. Oddly enough that’s been working quite well for me these past several years :-). When we decide that what we have to offer this world is valuable, we are rewarded with an abundant life.
[1] https://libraryofteachings.com/lecture.xqy?q=%20Entrepreneur%20sort:relevance&id=72c9ea14-ba87-5e41-3cc5-236b10ffb053&title=Peace-Prayer-Day-16
Homo on the Range 