This morning I received a facebook invite to the “East Bay Gift Economy.” The idea of a gift economy (as far as I understand it) is that instead of goods and services being exchanged for money goods and services are given for free in exchange that the person receiving it will offer their goods and services for free to someone else. Think pay-it-forward.
A gift economy changes the direction of consumption from “want” to “give.” As our economy is currently rendered, services and things remain stagnant even if there is someone who could benefit from them unless the benefactor can afford to and will pay money for them. We spend so much time and energy trying to convince the benefactor to shell out money for things. We, as benefactors, think long and hard about whether or not this something is of value to us. We have surpluses of things in order to provide choice, but then these things sit on shelves or in garages while other people could use them. A Gift Economy works to reverse this stagnation.
Right now the “East Bay Gift Economy” is a google document in which people write down the skills or things that they have to offer and also the skills or things they’d like to gain.
My entry looks like this:
I'm offering:
- cooking skills/cooking partnership (I'm still new to cooking, but I love to cook for other people and learn how to cook new things)
- buying your groceries (we'll have to figure out a way for you to reimburse me, but I absolutely love going to the grocery store/farmer's market--oh, I also only have a bike, so you'd need to be within walking distance)
- homework help
- researching grad schools/colleges and finding scholarships
- brainstorming sessions/writing tutoring/editing for both academic and creative pursuits
- German lessons
- travel tips for going to Germany or Tanzania/East Africa
- anything you want to know about Southeast Missouri/Bible Belt (might only be anecdotal)
- a giant kitchen to use* (only until February, and I'd want to be there and know the details of your project)
I'm offering/looking for:
- a cooking partner
- a German speaking partner
- people to have coffee with
I'm looking for:
- an accordion (to have or borrow) and accordion lessons
- dogs/cats to play with
- invitations to do things
- lessons in things related to graphic design
- job advice/leads
- a place to live starting in February
Others have posted that they’ll repair your bicycle, my friend Caely can perform your marriage ceremony, and more than one person can help you build a robot.
What I really, really like about this is that just filling out the form of what I can offer makes me feel valuable.
What’s been tough about graduating and looking for a job is just how much the process makes me feel useless. I don’t have 5+ years experience. I don’t know how to code html. I see all of these ads that are asking for something I can’t give. OR when they do ask for something I feel I could give, I hear back that hundreds or thousands (yes, I did get back a rejection letter telling me that thousands of people had applied for the position) had applied. Tell me about feeling like you’re not needed!
What I also like about the gift economy model is that you can ask for what it is that you truly want without feeling guilty. I mean, I asked for an accordion. I really want to play the accordion. I would probably feel too anxious about money to go out and buy an accordion, but I have no problem accepting an accordion. I also have no problem not getting an accordion. I don’t feel tied down to my wants.
You can also ask for things that aren’t traditionally sold—I asked for play time with kitties! Because it’s something I want, but don’t know how to get (none of my friends have animals right now and I’m not in a place to get one).
It’s nice.
And in the spirit of this being a blog about having a goal, I think I am going to start listing my daily goals. Then you’ll see them, and I’ll be accountable to you, dear readers.
So here are today’s goals:
Social: Have dinner with Liz.
Practical: Figure out how to get bed from Krista so that I’m not sleeping on an air mattress anymore.
Job-related: Email Mark and the career lady at Marlboro. Maybe even actually order that book off of Amazon that I’ve been looking at.
p.s. If you’re in the bay area, let me know, and I’ll get you the address of the gift economy. Then you can join in on the fun! If you’re not in the bay area, it’s really ridiculously easy to start up your own gift economy page. Comment and I’ll see if I can help you get one set up.
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