The Connection Economy: Cultivating Abundance Beyond Capitalism 🌿

Practical tools to create a currency where everyone has enough

"The connection economy is the economy of prosperity, collaboration and infinite possibilities. It's the vision of an economic ecosystem, a complex network of interconnected systems built on trust, value alignment and reciprocity. -Forbes¹

Image Credit: via Pinterest

Hello.

I can still remember the moment viscerally. It was the summer of 2013 and I was in Southern France, visiting an internment camp used during WWII to hold prisoners. As I passed through the empty hallways of that old mill, turned into a museum, I felt it in my bones. The possibility (perhaps imminent) of a return to our darkest collective moments of history.

A foreshadowing of what was to come.

Some days, I wake up with the eerie certainty we’re re-living them now.

Yet.

Something else happened that year that was just as profound.

In 2013, I made a bold choice²— I quit my job as a nurse in the ICU to travel solo around the world.

I was twenty-five and had everything I thought I “should” have on paper: a four-year degree, a respectable career helping others, a nice apartment in the city—ample time and flexibility to travel.

Yet.

I was profoundly lonely and disconnected from a life I really wanted—one shared intimately with others, hands in the dirt, more time outside, and living in community.

Oddly enough, the 14 months I spent traveling—I found exactly that. Strangers all over the world became friends through shared hospitality.³ I gave my time in exchange for being hosted by local families who provided shelter, warmth, and so much more.

I lived on my savings without any income, yet I was more resourced than I’d ever been.

During a moment of uncertainty while traveling, a friend offered this encouragement: “Just remember, you have a safety net of people who love you that you can always come home to.”

The More Beautiful World We Know Is Possible 🦋

An economy of mutual prosperity, collaboration, and abundance isn’t foolish or fanciful. It’s the natural way of being we know in our bones.

“What I want is so simple I almost can’t say it: elementary kindness. Enough to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed. That’s about it. Right now I’m living in that hope, running down its hallway and touching the walls on both sides.”

-Barbara Kingsolver

Thought leaders like Seth Godin,

Charles Eisenstein

, and others have been mapping this possibility and sharing its coordinates for years. Indigenous and marginalized communities have been practicing the way for centuries. In fact, the overstory of our culture—one of separation, fear, and scarcity is actually the new story on the block.

All we have to do is remember the truth.

“The connection economy⁴ thrives on abundance. Connections create more connections. Trust creates more trust. Ideas create more ideas.”

-Seth Godin

Can you feel it in your bones?

💞JOIN US: MONTHLY HEARTBEATS CONNECT, CREATE, COLLABORATE 💞

You're invited to participate in our FIRST monthly resource-sharing space—happening on the first Sunday of every month.

How It Works:

1. In the comments on THIS POST

   • Share your city in ALL CAPS

   • Under "RESOURCES OFFERED" list up to 3 free resources you'd like to share (examples: tarot reading, editing services, homemade meal, etc.)

   • Under "RESOURCES NEEDED" list 1-3 items you'd like to receive from the community (examples: a writing critique partner, 2 hours of childcare per month, an old typewriter, painting lessons, etc.).

2. Connect with others by responding directly to offers/requests that interest you

3. Check back periodically for new connections

4. We'll refresh this exchange monthly!

We can’t expect systems of oppression to self-destruct without building new ones to take their place.

When I’m at my best, I lean into the generative possibilities and our power to choose differently.

The possibility of widening the safety net of love and creating a currency of connection where everyone has enough. 💞

This is open to everyone on and off Substack. Share with a friend to widen the circle and multiply our resources. 👇

This illustration provides a beautiful template for how change happens. It may seem audacious but I believe a connection economy based on authentic, reciprocal, and generative relationships is not only possible, it’s inevitable.

Image Credit: How social movements grow: the ripple effect. (Nardini et al., J Consumer Psychology 2020)

That being said—we’re in the experiment phase so please reach out if you have questions, ideas, or ways to make sharing resources and building connections easier!

Additional Opportunities (For Paying Members of Heartbeats) 💗

Introducing Heartbeats Connection Circles

I got pregnant with Noah at the tail-end of the pandemic. This May, it’ll be three years of staying home and full-time caregiving while also trying to finish my first book and create a career out of writing. It’s been lonely and challenging and I know I’m not alone in missing the camaraderie of co-workers and others who get it.

• Bi-weekly virtual circles for mothers/caregivers, creatives, and entrepreneurs

• 45 min connecting, 45 min co-working on or off-camera

• April 9th and 23rd, 10:30AM-12:00PM EST

• Theme: Imagination

• Limited to 10 participants per session

These intimate, bi-weekly circles are for mothers/caregivers, creatives, and entrepreneurs to share resources and form new friendships in an informal co-working space.

Our first virtual circles will be April 9th and April 23rd from 10:30AM EST-12:00PM EST. The theme for April is Imagination.

Each session will be capped at 10 participants to give us time to intentionally connect. We’ll loosely explore a different theme each month (based on the astrological seasons) but will keep the circles open to what comes up organically in our discussions!

I’ll provide journal prompts for each session to reflect on alone or together. 💞

Check out the new Connection Circles Hub to register and find info on all the upcoming circle sessions, themes, and journal prompts.

Connection Circles Hub 💞

Community Bulletin Board

This is an idea I’ve had for a long time—a way for us to share our offerings and “cross-pollinate” our communities. 🐝

• Share your events, promotions, newsletters, or websites

• Included at the bottom of all future Heartbeats newsletters

• Limited to 6 postings per 6 months

Heartbeats Chat 💬

• Continue conversations between Connection Circles

• Weekly check-ins with journal prompts

• A place to ask for help, collaborate, brainstorm ideas, and be witnessed in our wins/challenges. 💖

*If you'd like to participate in any paid features but don't have the financial resources, email thebarefootbeat(at)gmail.com for a gifted subscription, no questions asked.

Thank you for being part of Heartbeats. There’s a reason for the name of this newsletter—I truly believe we are all connected by the beat of our hearts to life and each other.

What a beautiful and powerful time to be alive. 😊

All my love,
Mariah

Ways to support my writing and this community

Heartbeats is a community for creatives, caregivers, and messy humans who believe in the power of generative storytelling. By financially contributing to Heartbeats you are saying yes to collaboration, connection, and creating sacred spaces where we can heal, learn, and honor each other with care.

• Send this letter to a friend or share on social media

• Leave a 💗or comment

• Reach out for a collaboration

• Make a one-time contribution via Venmo (@thebarefootbeat) or Paypal

Thank you for your presence here. 💞

1. This quote is from this article in Forbes, written by Peace Mitchell, founder of The Women's Business School & the Australian Ambassador of Women in Tech. You can listen to her TEDx talk here.

2

Peep my journey from the beginning over on TheBarefootbeat.com —a blog of my solo travel adventures and all the life that’s happened since!

3. I traveled using Workaway, a culture exchange program with local hosts and international volunteers. I loved it and was a guest author on their blog for many years!

4. To be clear, the connection economy is not the same as the “attention” economy, an important point

Jennifer Newton

made in her letter here. We are exhausted by the attention economy’s demands: constant interruptions, notifications, and the never-ending cycle of dopamine-addicting external validation. This instant gratification perpetuates competition over collaboration and disconnects us from the true intimacy our hearts desire.