"God Bless the Child Who Has His Own" - Tough Lesson for University of Pennsylvania (many non-profits) Have to Learn During Middle East Conflict

 

One benefit from the mystical Tarot is the realization that, you bet, you have to take care of yourself. A major piece of that, even in this spiritual ether, is providing for your own financial support. Given that, you have the confidence and the power to walk away from whatever. 

WALKING AWAY

The Tarot even has an official Walking Away card.

There is no softening, though. You are walking into the unknown. So, yes, take your time. Pause when overwhelmed. But keep the confidence that you have the ability to walk towards.

HAVING THE FUNDING TO WALK TOWARDS

The soul lyrics of Billie Holiday highlight that in the song "God Bless the Child." Essentially, it goes like this: Mama may have, Papa may have, But God bless the child who's got his own." 

Victorian thought leader and novelist Virginia Woolf hammered the same meme in her essay for women "A Room of One's Own." The message was the need for females to have their independent source of income. Second-wave feminists in the late 1960s put it this way: Without your own money, you are living with the boss.

Now the University of Pennsylvania might have to learn that tough lesson. That is, it has to figure out how to not financially depend so much on wealthy donors. In play right now could be $1 billion. Among those heavy hitters in donations - $50 million not long ago - is Apollo CEO Marc Rowan. His campaign to encourage other deep pockets to shut down donations is getting traction. The issue is this: Rowan believes the University has not adequately supported the rightness of the points of view of Israel.

Given his broad networks, Rowan's stance could have impact. On the list of what he perceives needs to be changed is the leadership. Those include President Liz Magill and Scott Bok. They, Rowan insists, should step down.

ALL NON-PROFITS AND FUNDRAISING

The University of Pennsylvania is not alone in being in this financial pickle during this time of the conflict in the Middle East. It isn't a stretch to look at the tea leaves and predict: All non-profits better restructure their sources of fundraising to make them less vulnerable to geopolitical and domestic developments, as well as simply irritating a deep-pocket. 

This isn't the first rodeo for non-profits' in what might be described as "being held hostage" to the wealth, power and influence of those who, come on, shouldn't have that hold on them. Often that doesn’t pass the smell test. At Bard College the President Leon Botstein admitted that he had sought after pedophile Jeffrey Epstein for contributions. Botstein, of course, wasn't alone in doing that. 

YES, WE DO WALK

Should financial matters be given the acid test: Should we walk away from this? Reframe that: Can we walk away from that? 

After my industry crashed post-9/11 and with it went my once wildly successful ghostwriting/speechwriting boutique, nest egg and mind I adopted that Walk Away mindset. In a sense I was ahead of my time. The 21st century has turned out to be a rollercoaster ride for too many Knowledge Workers. 

Walking Away entailed for me not only a minimalist lifestyle. It also meant I had to stop the chase after prestige, a gold-plated network and platforms for building what I envisioned to be the future of my career. In addition, I reskilled. That included transforming my background in mysticism into doing paid Tarot readings. I also took the leap into digital.

ACID TEST (APRIL – MAY 2022)

In 2022 was the most recent acid test for the strength of my Walking Away ethos (April through May). Prestigious law firm Paul Weiss had put me on retainer for communications. And, according to how I experienced the situation back then, it seemed that CMO Luke Ferrandino had just left me there. There were No Real Work, No Contract, No Timeframe for how long the contract was for, No NDA and No Metrics for assessing my performance.

AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM WITHOUT “PERMISSION” TO WALK AWAY

I allowed that to go on for two months. Then I Walked Away. At least in a concrete way. In my head there remains the struggle to sort that out. Is the problem this: There was and is no entity which provided and provides the “permission” to do that kind of Walk Away. Hell, Paul Weiss represented the big time in the US brand of capitalism. In addition, the money was good.

Would there be fewer mental health problems in the US if children were socialized with "permission" to Walk Away. 

The professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl and Reddit are jam-packed with the ambitious pleading for permission to, you got it, Walk Away. The lion's share of the Tarot readings I provide had involved some form of releasing that permission. 

Tarot Card Reader. Intuitive Career Coach. Spiritual Guide

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