I’m writing to you from the center of the Boulder flood plain. Yesterday, I lived on North Boulder Park, today it’s North Boulder Lake.  Kids were being pulled on wake boards across the park by dad’s on dirt bikes.  The cops didn’t like that.  See pictures here.

I know the flooding is horrible for a great many people, and there’s also something I really do love about a powerful weather event like this. In any sort of a crisis situation, really, we get to have a direct experience of what really matters.

What is wealth when money is irrelevant?

Whether it’s a choice to go to Burning Man where there’s no commerce or a crises weather event where you can’t get to a store to buy what you need, at some point you learn true wealth isn’t measured by money.

What’s real becomes far more important: community, creativity and resourcefulness.

These are the foundations of true wealth.  Cultivate them and you are truly financially liberated.

With community, creativity and resourcefulness it matters not a bit how much money you have in any given moment because you can acquire what you need, when you need it, on demand.

It’s not the cash you have in the bank, your credit score, the debt you are are carrying on your credit cards, or the size of your retirement account — your true wealth is made clear …

It’s your community.

Do you have people who love to support you and be with you when something happens?

I was blessed to spend storm time with John Taylor, Jennifer Peck, Sujana Hara (who’s apartment has been contaminated and condemned by the flood), Jon Brandon and his son Alex, and a bit of time with Jason Digges.

Great companions make life enjoyable for me.

It’s your creativity.

How will you use your time?  Will you watch tv and go shopping, consuming as much as you can in an attempt to fill what’s unfillable?

Or will you create? Music, art, writing, food, poetry, dance … the treasures of life you can always exchange for the basics – food, shelter, and love, anytime you need it.

It’s your resourcefulness.

When you can trust in your own resourcefulness, you can trust in your own ability to use what’s available, call in what you need, and create what you want, when you want it, on demand.

These are the pillars of true wealth and the path to financial liberation.

I’m grateful to these stormy extremes as they are giving me more opportunity to build community, creativity and resourcefulness.

How’s your community, creativity and resourcefulness? Are you focusing your wealth building on the places they won’t actually make that big of a difference?