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4 MYTHS ABOUT

FINANCIAL COVER ART
SECURITY
Mistress of Chalice Well

...continued from page 26 by Holly Sierra

This lovely goddess
Our overblown consumer culture is a massive exercise in miss-
ing the point. What the current financial paradigm offers us is is the Guardian of
not natural. It’s not what we really want. The best things in Chalice Well, one of
Britain's most an-
life, as the old saying goes, are not things. Derek Sivers—the cient wells, nestling
brilliant entrepreneur who started CD Baby and sold it for
$22 million, 95 percent of which he gave to charity—said he’d in the Vale of Avalon
love to buy trained parrots to fly around every mall in America between the famous
squawking, Glastonbury Tor and
Chalice Hill. Sur-
rounded by beautiful
“It won’t make you happy. It won’t make you happy. It’s not
what you really want.” gardens and orchards
it is a living sanctuary
in which the visitor
What we do really want is to give of our gifts and talents, to can experience the
be of service. We want to love. We want to be generous. We quiet healing of this
need to do these things. It’s what makes us happy, what brings
us alive. sacred place. For over
two thousand years
this has been a place
Real security lies in becoming more of who we really are, in where people have gathered to drink the waters and find
traveling light, being free in mind. Money, which is nothing solace, peace and inspiration.
but a bunch of green paper and plastic cards and numbers in a
virtual cloud somewhere, is temporary, ephemeral, malleable.
It’s a symbol and works best when it’s circulated. It gets stag-
nant sitting in one man’s hedge fund. ABOUT THE ARTIST

Speaking of hedge funds, I think it’s important to point out
that villainizing hedge-fund managers and AIG for writing $3 Holly Sierra’s illustrations speak of that which is visually
trillion in unregulated derivatives is not the answer. CEOs mak- enchanting with particular attention to decorative, mysti-
ing $500 million are as much a victim of the current financial cal, historical and multicultural themes. Holly Sierra now
paradigm as the rest of us. makes her home in colorful Sedona, Arizona and finds the
area very inspirational to her new work. Starts with scen-
I’ve often argued that amassing $10 billion, the amount Donald ery that makes your heart leap...Sedona is nestled amidst a
Trump claims to be worth, is not that different from stock- geological wonderland.
piling old newspapers, leaky buckets, and all the other junk
collecting in the homes of the dysfunctional folks we watch on Multi-hued stone formations rise up-
the A&E show Hoarders. wards from the high desert floor creat-
ing a vivid, mesmerizing setting that
Having too much money throws off perspective and causes stu- changes hourly with the light. Regard-
pid moves, like buying stuff you won’t use or really even want ed by Native Americans as sacred, Se-
except that our current economic system has deluded you into dona continues to be recognized as a
believing more stuff makes you happier. As Frank Lloyd Wright place of healing and spiritual renewal.
once pointed out, “Wealthy people are little more than jani- Many come to experience the vortex
tors for their possessions.” energy centers, others to explore the
art galleries and healing centers.
Tom Shadyac, the famous writer/director of Ace Ventura,
Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and other Hollywood hits, seconds Holly is often found hiking or four wheeling amongst the
Wright’s the conclusion. “Money and possessions are a trap,” Red Rocks, if she is not busy attending a gallery opening or
he says, explaining why he chose to ditch his 17,000-square- supplying a local shop with Chrysalis Tarot Decks, Greeting
foot compound for a 100-foot double-wide. “Spending our time Cards or Canvas Prints! Holly’s daughters, Gabi and Esme,
accruing comfort and material possessions only inhibits and as well as Pearl, a beautiful grey cat, help keep her com-
complicates happiness.” pany. Email hollysierra@yahoo.com and see her work at
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HollySierraArt

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