Money Isn't Everything...So Why Is It?

I’ve been chewing on this question for years: Why does money hold so much power over our lives? It’s baffling. We’ve built entire civilizations around it, worshipped it like a deity, and let it dictate our self-worth, our choices in life, and even our relationships.

Whether you have it or don’t, money is the ultimate brain candy—sweet, addictive, and often toxic.

It’s strange how something so abstract can make people lose themselves. Some folks drown in wealth and forget who they are. Others are so broke they can’t afford the basics that actually matter—food, shelter, health.

Money isn’t just a currency; it’s a stress factory, a silent illness, a relentless pressure cooker. It can break you whether you’re chasing it or trying to survive without it.

There are the people who have more money than they could ever spend. You’d think they’d be content, but many are still chasing more—more stuff, more status, more power, more personal validation. Meanwhile, others are scraping by, not because they’re lazy or irresponsible, but because the system is built to reward comfort and punish vulnerability.

What’s worse? The myth that poverty is a personal failure. That if you’re struggling, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough, didn’t budget wisely, didn’t hustle like the rest. “Just get another job,” they say. “Work harder. Save better.” As if life were a simple math equation. As if we haven’t already tried.

I’ve had a rocky relationship with money my whole life. I’m not out here buying diamond-studded toilet seats. I’m still rocking a 35-year-old sweater, and my wardrobe is basically a time capsule. My car? A 2003 PT Cruiser that’s seen better days and is probably on it's last days. My last vacation was 10 years ago and it was half work, half miracle—thanks to my amazing parents who took my daughter and me on their cruise, timed perfectly with my traveling PSW gig in the same state.

No matter what your reality is... Money has been a part of it. My reality? More bills than bucks. Life has thrown curveballs—family medical emergencies, my own health challenges, and the daily demands of being a mom to a brilliant, chronically ill, neurodiverse child for the past three decades. Holding down a traditional full-time job hasn’t always been possible.

And let’s be real: even getting a job costs money. You need a phone to apply for the job and to hear back from them. You need an address, transportation from that address to the job interview, clothes to wear to the interview and hopefully for when you get the job. You need money to wash those clothes, buy meds to keep your body functioning, and food to fuel your brain. You need to focus on the job—not on whether you can afford to get there tomorrow, or whether your kid will let you work your shift.

And while you are going through it all and trying to do your best, you have stores charging as much as they can, landlords who just want their money and don't care what is going on in your life, you have jobs and government departments asking for forms to be filled out (which you are also charged for), and no one to say "Hey, Money isn't everything".

So yeah, money rules the world. But maybe it’s time we start questioning why—and who benefits from that rule.