Another concept that came up at dinner is that of material possessions. There gets to be a point when owning more doesn’t make sense. I’ve always been a fan of quality over quantity, and function as more important than quality (sadly, but economically sometimes necessary). Even so, as I get older I’m finding that I want to own fewer possessions, and they all must be beautiful. And functional (of course). For now that still means that I need to buy some ‘important’ pieces of furniture – ‘real’ bookshelves for one, a better designed desk for another. I still think I have too much furniture in the bedroom . . . but I can’t eliminate it all at once.

If someone gave me several million dollars (yes, the old game) what would I do? I’d spend it on intellectual things, not material, for the most part. Yes, I’d move – but not to a ‘showpiece’ house, or even one substantially bigger than what I own now. I like the size of my house, I just want one that isn’t connected to another house, has a mudroom for the dog, and a ‘proper’ guestroom. That’s all. The biggest change? The new house will have a garden, serious land in fact. I don’t want to see a neighbor (and yet still have high-speed internet access). But that won’t cost me millions. The rest of the money will be invested, and I’ll go pursuing knowledge. I’d take courses because they sound interesting. Learn French *in* France; cooking in Italy, tour the Greek Islands on a private boat (not mine, but a locals) with long stops to see what each island offers. A private guided tour of the Louvre, the British Musuem, the Victoria Albert . . . there’s a year right there.

Big dream item: I’d open a pagan publishing house to produce unique books for the community. Authors would be paid $10k (or somesuch) flat fee, and the books would be printed on high-quality paper, with lots of illustrations. If I made my production costs back, I’d start paying the author a serious royalty. As a writer who’s never made money (on widely praised books) I feel the pain of not making money from one’s blood, sweat, and tears. If I were seriously wealthy, I wouldn’t care if this business never made money. It would be one of the ways I would service, and support, my community.

So, my dreams of wealth are all about improving myself, and making a contribution to my community. So typical of this six-time Virgo with all those planets in the first house.