Reflection by Edgar Cahn
Being a transplant from nation to nation is nothing new. When you are Jewish, you are part of a nation that has been a transplant for centuries. We had the five books of Moses inscribed on a scroll, a tabernacle that had to be portable so we could carry it on our backs as persecution drove us from nation to nation and continent to continent. Right now, the United States is politically divided and paralyzed by the prospect of a wave of transplants coming from Central America. Except for Native Americans, we are all transplants. And we need more transplants to have the paid labor force needed as Baby Boomers age. We need other transplants from other kinds of bases to provide mutual health. For instance, TimeBanking enlists one labor force from another labor force in several ways: fifth grade students who can help third graders learn to read; teenagers who can create a culture of peer responsibility at a youth court; elders who can help other elders function as a non-biological extended family to raise grandchildren and provide informal support for each other. Our species specializes in becoming transplants. We just landed a rocket on Mars to see if our species could transplant itself there. What matters is not where we are – but what values and wisdom we carry with us – as we move from place to place, we sink roots, we explore, we create a base, we reach into the unknown. That is who and what we are as a life form.
An everyday hero
"I am a transplant to Florida and don't have any family close to me. So, finding a time bank has been awesome. Props to one member in particular, for babysitting my little one, when I just need a break sometimes. AND she even did the dishes y'all! Is she a saint, or what!? I felt blessed and very grateful.
The time bank has helped me make friends in a new city and helped me immensely with just day-to-day life. :-) " - An Everyday Hero
Exchange member, Florida
Reflection by Edgar Cahn
Pysanky eggs and kittles. Such a vision. All of economics – investment and consumption – captured in a single image. TimeBanking does two things: it creates moments and generates memories that live on.
When we reach out to another, we inject meaning in that moment. Each act is itself a work of art, a gift, transient and yet eternal.
The egg, just by itself, is such a perfect symbol of possibility – birth and life. Ironically, it has to be broken for life to come forward. Painted as Elaine did – it represents a promise and a vision – to be treasured. Coupled with goodies to munch, Elaine created moments
and memories.
The oval transcends both the circle and the square. It is a static image of possibility. For Elaine, it meant that despite dialysis, she could give life and joy and meaning to others.
That TimeBank members were there for her at the end and that each one received a pysanky egg captures all that we are trying to do with our own lives:
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give joy
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create beauty
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affirm life
and by doing so, use a moment in time to transcend Time.
An everyday hero
"With dialysis three times a week, Elaine believed she had nothing to give, but I knew otherwise. In talking with her I discovered that Elaine painted — not landscapes or portraits but beautiful pysanky eggs. And while Elaine brought out her beautiful hand painted eggs to show me, she also showered me with goodies to munch on. It turned out she was a fabulous baker as well! Elaine was essential in her community — she was able to complete all the baking for another member's wedding all on time credits. It just took the realization that she had the capacity to give to make it possible. She also held baking classes in her kitchen teaching members how to make kiffels. Unfortunately, Elaine has since passed away — but she did not pass away alone. She was surrounded by TimeBank members, who — through the process of TimeBanking — had become her friends and her family. And she continued the cycle of giving by leaving behind a painted egg for each person who had come into her life and meant something to her." - Kathy Perlow, Community Exchange, Pennsylvania
Reflection by Edgar Cahn
This looks simply like a nice story – children playing, parents attending, everyone happy. But it is really pretty profound in what it says timebanking can do.
Typically programs are just programs. They provide a service to recipients. But this timebank does more than generate transactions. It is creating the functional equivalent of extended family. What does that mean?
For a mere medium of exchange to function as the analog of biological kinship is not just nice or trivial. It is really revolutionary. To create a different kind of family circumvents and even defies how in the world of commerce we otherwise define worth and determine worthiness. Family as identity extends across generations. Family creates a presumption of trust, it establishes a kind of indelible nexus that somehow persists even despite differences and disruptions. The outcome is more than the sum of its parts, more than just the number of transactions. We are a species that needs families to discharge functions necessary to survive, to prosper, to contribute, to create, and to preserve. Creating a new kind of family ultimately may incubate a growing awareness of what it means to be a member of the human family.
Creating extended family
The West Seattle Timebank has been providing children’s activities at Community events. This allows parents to attend and allows us to build a trusting relationship with our Organization partners and the residents in the community. We always have a table with information about Timebanking. A win- win for all. - West Seattle Timebank, Washington
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