Heidemarie is a 69 year old German lady who gave up using money 15 years ago. It all began when she was in her 40s and was emerging from a difficult marriage. She moved to a town called Dortmund in Germany with her two children. A place with quite a huge population of homeless people, a situation that touched her heart and she decided to come up with a system wherein homeless people can swap products and services. Pretty much like a barter system...in fact exactly like barter system.
So she opened up a shop that she called, Gib and Nimm, which means, 'Give and Take'. A place where people could exchange a bowl of rice for a cardigan, or get a haircut in exchange for painting a wall. She always believed that the homeless do not need any money to be accepted in the society, "I've always believed that even if you have nothing, you are worth a lot. Everyone has a place in this world." she says.
Unfortunately things didn't quite work out the way she expected them to, the homeless were least interested in her initiative, for they believed that an educated, middle-class family lady can have no clue of what their life is all about.
Interestingly, it was the unemployed and retired population who gained interest in her idea. People with all kinds of possessions and skills started flocking her shop and made her idea a satisfying success.
With time, she started wondering about her life and materialistic things like money and how it is not even a priority in her life.
"I began to realize that I lived with so many things I didn't need. So I decided that I wouldn't buy anything without giving something away. That's how it started. Then I began to really think about what I needed, clothes for example, and noticed that I could easily get by with what I could hang on ten coat-hangers. Everything else I gave away. I had so much stuff in the house that was superfluous. Getting rid of it was a relief."
Her shop in Dortmund was doing wonderfully well, so she decided to go a little further and try living without any money for 12 months. She gave up her apartment, her teaching job and decided to live nomadically. She moved from one house to another, did their chores in return for accommodation, food, clothes or whatever that came by.
Even though she'd given herself 12 months, she decided to take up "Living Without Money" as a lifestyle and today it's been 15 years and she hasn't used any money yet. Amazing 'eh!
"Life became much more exciting. More beautiful. I had everything I needed and I knew I couldn't go back to my old life. I didn't have to do what I didn't like, I had a more profound sense of joy, and physically I feel better than ever. Living without money was just the first step. I realized that I wanted to change the world and I wasn't going to do that by looking after someone's cat while they were on holiday."
She has no health insurance because she didn't want to be accused of stealing money from the govt. So what if she falls sick? Well, she believes in the power of 'self healing'.
LivingWithoutMoney
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Source: Timesonline.co.uk
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