Meet The Mother of Invention:

Ms. Necessity.

(Charmed, I'm sure.)

She often shows up when times are tight and we're experiencing more deprivations than we care to.

You may have heard that here in Washington, DC we are facing some pretty serious economic deprivations.  While the rest of the country has been reeling from the recession for quite some time, The District has been relatively sheltered from it, mainly due to the fact that our largest employer here is the Federal Government. Furthermore, thousands of government contractors call Washington their home as well, thereby providing a substantial portion of gainful employment.

But that government gravy train is slowing down substantially with the furloughs, deep budget cuts and other effects of the sequestration. I myself am certainly not looking forward to watching our nation's capital struggle.  The impact will not only affect my business, but the whole economy in this area. It will mean even less for those who make very little already and we'll see more individuals living below poverty.

Mother Invention, Please Step Forward 
(Because we need you!)

In the absence of indigence, however, some deprivation can have a beneficial effect.  For instance, think about some time when you had to cut back financially and thought there was no way you could survive without x,y or z.  But then you did indeed survive by coming up with a different means of getting what you needed, without the money you thought was "required." You discovered a personal inventiveness that you didn't know (or had forgotten) existed.

"When no one wants to lend you money, you become resourceful."

-Cheryl Krueger

Founder, Cheryl's Cookies

from an interview with Cake & Whiskey Magazine   

Yes, tight times and a meager budget can indeed be extremely difficult, but as long as we can still put food on the table and have a roof over our heads, it doesn't have to be devastating. It can make us create solutions and force us to rethink our needs and invent alternative plans; a great way of developing that creative brain "muscle!" 

And, as I bet you've also experienced, often times those alternative plans become the key to new relationships, resources and directions. Realizing that maybe we can get by with less and use our cleverness to compensate for cash is one of the most empowering feelings. We move away from being a victim of our circumstances to being a benefactor of our circumstances.

"The quickest way to give yourself a pay raise is to spend less money."

-The Minimalists, 

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

Most importantly we move away from the fear of less, the fear of complete depletion if we earn fewer dollars or give up something.  Money can be disabling that way, because once you can afford to have some luxury you get used to it.  You enjoy it, it seems to make your life easier and more comfortable.  But then you start to think you can't even live without that extra benefit , even though it didn't always exist. You've forgotten the fact that you used to do just fine!

After all, the natural tension between priorities and resources will always exist, and more money means more decisions about where funds should or shouldn't go.  Given that it's all relative, when IS enough really enough?

Now, Ms. Necessity, It's Your Turn

So here's my pie-in-the-sky hope for Washington: once all of these highly educated, highly skilled, highly inventive people out there begin making less money than they've become accustomed, they'll be forced to innovate and see some unique opportunities.  Perhaps they'll become entrepreneurial and supplement their diminishing income with a latent interest-turned-side business. Or, for those used to making a hefty paycheck, once they take away the big salary from their list of "must-haves" they may give themselves permission to do something that uses more of their talents.

"... what we do with our money plays a far more important role

 than how much money we make."

from "Don't Indulge, Be Happy"

by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton

I'll leave you with an example of the relativity of money and a common mentality around here: 

A friend recently heard two private law firm partners discussing salaries. One was lamenting to another that she could not imagine what it would be like to live on $100K a year versus the $500K + annual salaries that she and most of her fellow partners at the firm earn. "How do people get by?" she asked her colleague, shaking her head in bewilderment.

Washington, you've got a long way to go, but hopefully you'll get there sooner than later.