‘Tis the season for many things! Did you know that the majority of charitable giving contributions occur in the last three months of the year? Do you have any thoughts on why that might be the case, other than for tax savings, or last-minute thoughts for the calendar year?
I can’t help but imagine that, in part, our generosity increases due to certain holidays this time of year, be it Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, and earlier in the year, Ramadan and Diwali. Based on our religious and spiritual beliefs, even those who consider themselves atheists, this time of year provides us with an opportunity for reflections or insights that contribute to our finding our way forward into the next year.
Heroes And Heroines
This year I asked a few “Heroes on a Mission” to share their insights from 2022 and how we can bring those ideas into both our dreams for 2023 and actions we can take to fulfill our vision for the future. Each of them comes from different religious backgrounds so thought it’d be good to hear their perspectives on this topic, given the time of year.
Why heroes? Because, as it turns out, it is all men I approached. Once I realized that and thought about these particular men, and their passion for contributing to creating a world we can all be proud of, it was easy for me to see them as heroes. For me, the word heroes encompasses courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help others in need, which these men all certainly do.
Why not heroines? I think most of you know we are working on a book we’ve titled Invisible Heroines that will be coming out next year, so heroines is something we’ve been concentrating a lot on this year. It’s nice to have this balance, I feel, and highlight some heroes as well!
Observations And Insights For The Holiday Season
Every year, in December, I like to follow Eileen Chadnick’s “Year in Review” questions that provide an opportunity to explore what worked well, what didn’t, and how the lessons and learnings from the past year can be brought into setting our intentions for the upcoming year. This pairs nicely with many ideologies and faiths that also look to reflect this time.
Something that the Jewish Faith, Islamic Faith, Christian beliefs, Paganism, and Indigenous beliefs all have in common includes taking the time to reflect on our lives, our roles in both our lives and our communities, in some ways as a tribute to bringing back the light into our lives.
Here’s what my heroes had to say on this topic:
Jack Silverstein
Jack recently launched his video podcast Tales from the Trenches – giving others a voice as we move forward in our desire to make a difference in the world. He also has a book by the same name. I’ve interviewed him many times as he has me, great reciprocity and perspectives on “lending a helping hand.”
“Chanukkah/Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that lasts 8 crazy nights (as per the Adam Sandler movie). The reason it lasts 8 nights is not because there are at least 8 different ways to spell this Hebrew word, rather it is to commemorate the miracle that the oil that was to light up the altar after a war was enough for one day, but it lasted 8 days instead (just in time for new oil to come). This holiday connects our heritage with our children – as can be seen by the gifting of Chanukah gelt (or Hanukkah money). It has become much more commercialized over the years (as have other holy days celebrated around this time). I find it comforting that no matter what (or no matter where the family is – whether it be here in Ottawa, or in Florida visiting grandparents), we light our own individual chanukiahs together and recite the blessings together (we have even done this over Facetime) to ensure that this is a shared ritual.
Many of my faith proudly display their chanukiah (a candelabra of sorts, where we light one additional candle each night. — the first night has the “candle lighter” and one candle; the second has the “candle lighter” and 2 candles, etc.) in a publicly visible spot in their house (maybe the front bay window) as a symbol of light. It has often been said that the purpose of the Chanukkah lights is to light up the darkness. I interpret this as being an inspiration to others. Perhaps that is why this holiday connects us so much with our children.”
Bryan Bowers aka Grandpa Pine
Bryan Bowers was kind enough to forward me his reflections, from Bryan Bowers: In Spirit Works Art Project. Here are Bryan’s Winter Solstice Reflections:
When Betty-Anne asked for my reflections this winter solstice my mind immediately flashed to images of my grandchildren, Aziyha and Everett, and the world they are inheriting. Even though they live on different continents, their challenges will be the same, environmental degradation. This caused me to reflect on the teaching words of Anishinaabe Elder and friend Frank Antoine when he exhorted me to, “use only what you need and leave the land as you found it.”
I often wonder what possibilities those watch words could usher in if they ever became the bedrock of a new way of seeing. A new way of seeing that seeks to renew our relationships with Mother Earth and Her wild things. As the late Grandfather William Commanda always espoused at the conclusion of his Seven Fires Prophecy Wampum Belt teachings, “we live in times of choice,” a choice between healing and restoration or death and destruction. Other teaching words that cause me to reflect on this winter solstice are from Floyd Westerman, SIOUX, “My grandfather survived on this earth without using anything that did not go back into the earth.”
In support of those collective Indigenous teaching words, Nova Scotia artist, Linda Johns, offers up a painting she calls “Renewing the Light.” I will conclude my solstice reflections by rereading her words, while observing her painting: “The loon is seeking the seed of renewal in the depths. Turtle Earth is disintegrating in fire. Only honouring nature can bring healing. Moons symbolize time passing: we must act now. This moon also suggests a drum to wake us up. The tiny figure inside spoke to me as though peering through from another world.” This winter solstice I am reflecting on the aforementioned teaching words and image, while asking myself: How can I help put out Turtle Earth’s fire and renew Her light?” After all, we will all be peering back on our lives and legacy at one point. What do you hope to see?”
The Winter Solstice
One celebration that I enjoy this time of year is the Winter Solstice, which falls on December 21st. Here’s a great explanation of the traditions for this holiday from the wiccaliving.com website:
“From this point forward, the days will gradually grow longer again, until we reach the height of the Sun’s power at the Summer Solstice. Although we will still see comparatively little of the Sun’s light for several more weeks, this Sabbat reminds us to have patience—the waning half of the year is over, and warmth, growth, and light will reign again! The significance of the Winter Solstice has been recognized for thousands of years, ever since human beings first observed the ever-changing patterns of sunrise and sunset over the course of the seasons. The ancient Romans, Greeks, and Persians all held festivals at this time, many of which celebrated the birth of one or more gods.”
I like celebrating the Winter Solstice by building a fire in our fire pit outside, feeling the warmth and glow of the blaze, and giving me precious time to ponder what I want to leave behind and what I want to embrace for the coming year.
The return of light to our hemisphere is symbolic and inspires me to think deeper about what I want to focus on for the coming year, what beliefs or thoughts, as they relate to my mindset, are helping me and which are getting in the way.
A Social Purpose For Our Future
This past year we’ve become involved with the Social Purpose Institute via the British Columbia United Way and signed up for their Social Purpose Innovators Program. We are now engaged in a process to determine what our specific social purpose is; what do we want to be known for, what impact do we want to have, what are our aspirational goals and how can they be reflected in the work we do?
My previous mindset of wanting to be all things to all people will need to shift. It used to be that our social purpose was part of the fabric of our personal lives and, therefore, our business. Now, our social purpose will become the heart of our business, with everything we do flowing from that center.
For Tara, my Business Partner, the mindset shift will be similar and yet different in some ways. I often call myself a “process junkie,” going with the flow of questions and information to discover answers and solutions from within that process. Tara, on the other hand, is much more likely to start with the goal in mind and work backward from there, which is a great strength to have within our Financial Planning Practice.
Setting out to discover our social purpose means we have to engage in a process where we don’t know what the outcome will be, at least not yet. This is a step outside both our comfort zones, given the uncertainty of where this process will lead us, but it is exciting at the same time.
Tying this back to our faith and beliefs, Tara, as a Protestant, reminds herself that taking this “leap of faith” is part of the many life lessons her Grandfather taught her, which is; “if proof were possible, faith would be impossible.” Interesting point and perspective.
Both of us recognize that with a changing world, our ever-present social justice issues overlap with our concerns about the ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor. The enhanced desire for people to support their favorite charities while making a difference in the world and uncertainty as to how to do that all need to be factored into the creation of our social purpose.
We want a social purpose statement to reflect these and other concerns we have related to our passion for making information accessible, interesting, and enjoyable. The language of finance can be intimidating and, therefore, a barrier to achieving our social purpose.
Finding Our Way Forward In 2023
People want to support charities, including gifts in their wills, and, when given the opportunity, are fiercely seeking out strategies to do so. We’ve delivered many talks in the past year to donors, and members of professional associations, charities, and foundations. In our follow-up meetings with participants we’ve discovered intense enthusiasm for finding tax-efficient ways to support charities both now and at their deaths.
What we’ve uncovered is that most people who are in positions financially to make these gifts are being serviced primarily by “investment advisors” and not financial planners who specialize in philanthropy.
What we know from the Canadian Association of Gifts Planners via their Willpower Campaign is currently, only 5% of Canadians leave a gift in their will. If we were to increase that by 3.5%, so take it to 8.5% we’d increase the gifts to charities by $ 40 billion. Imagine what we could do within our communities if and when we reach that goal. That is certainly part of our mission and going to be an integral component of our social purpose. We hope you’ll join us in this pursuit.
Myths And Misconceptions About The Language Of Finance
There are several myths and misconceptions we frequently encounter, including “we have to cash out our RRSPs at age 71”! What’s implied here is that all the money invested inside the RRSPs will be income in that year, which is a myth. Imagine the taxes that would be owed if that were true. What concerns us about this notion is that people are making decisions based on inaccurate information, why is that? Or, a better question would be how is it that people have come to believe this and see it as the truth?
We don’t have all the answers and will continue to ask ourselves this question in many different ways, but we do know that some of these misconceptions have to do with the language of finance!
As we’ve said before, the language of finance can be inaccessible, hard to understand, and confusing for people. We desperately want to change that, starting with our Dancing with the Money Dragon Course. We are in the process of partnering with MCIS Language Solutions who have established their social purpose and are aligned with our values.
They’ve asked us to provide articles, information, etc, on the language of finance. We want to develop these relationships further. This in turn, can help further break down the barriers and silos we’re all working in.
Earlier this year we had a discussion with Eliana Trinaistic from MCIS Language Solutions, who also participated in the Social Purpose Innovators Program before us. We were buddied up with each other, given we’re both in Ontario. She was initially surprised that she’d been assigned Athena Wealth and Legacy Solutions as her buddy given she expected we’d have little to nothing in common. This of course, demonstrates how much financial services are perceived as being devoid of meaning, social purpose, and impact. After we got to know each other better, we began to explore how best to take each of our visions, mission, and purpose to collaborate on future endeavors.
Summing It Up
Finding our way forward by partnering with heroes, heroines, like-minded people, and organizations that are making a difference in the world and their communities is our path in 2023.
This time of year can help us to slow down and reflect on what has worked in the past year, and where we want to be in the future. Our goal is to move forward together in ways that we may have never dreamed of as we stay open to the possibilities of creating a more compassionate world. Our insights from 2022 will help us bring those ideas into both our dreams for 2023 and actions we can take to fulfill our vision for the future.
Whatever you choose to celebrate this time of year, from all of us at Athena Wealth and Legacy Solutions, we are wishing you peace, joy, love, prosperity, and health. Here’s to a 2023 filled with hope and vision for a brighter future!
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