My monkey mind postings relate to Buddha’s description of the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, and carrying on endlessly. These postings come from my monkey mind.
Yesterday my Monkey Mind connected Nancy Botwin (a fictional character), ways to improve financial lives by making more money, and women in commerce in the legal pot industry in Colorado. I am not posting about whether or not legalized marijuana is appropriate, only about where my Monkey Mind took me recently.
Colorado has legalized the growing and sale of recreational marijuana, with limitations. I lived in Colorado for most of my adult life and have family and friends there. Recently I was staying with my adult son and he opened the freezer, took out a small bag of marijuana, and asked if I wanted some. Then we laughed. Pot has never been my deal or his. The bag has been there for six months. The humorous part was he was having this conversation with his mother and all of a sudden that which was forbidden and usually hidden, was now OK (limited amounts of course) and out for all to see.
He and I have our mother and son bonding over cable TV shows like Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Nip Tuck, and my all-time favorite, Weeds. If you don’t know, Weeds is the fictional story of Nancy Botwin, a widow with two children and a big need for big income. She is not a perfect person and her decision to deal weed is one of love, violence, greed, corruption, survival, decisions, sex, and commerce. It is also the story of a woman in an industry run by men and a mother’s concern for providing for her children. Quite an interesting combination.
The last episodes show how over time she made the jump from being a criminal dealing drugs to a woman of commerce with a chain of very successful stores selling pot edibles. How did this happen? The story line put her in a world where weed had been legalized. I loved the ending since it showed Nancy as the owner of a very large, very legal, and very legitimate business. My son didn’t share my enthusiasm. I suspect he was looking for the crazy violence prone Nancy to rise again. Instead it was a story of closure and commerce .
This week I did a posting titled Three Ways to Improve Your Financial Life. One of these ways to make more. I am always fascinated by how we as women find ways to make more for ourselves and our families. So, when CBS This Morning did a segment on women in Colorado who are in the legalized marijuana industry, are making money, reaching out to each other, and getting a piece of the action, I thought of Nancy Botwin and the idea of making more money.
In the CBS video, a woman is shown in a commercial kitchen preparing pot goodies. She is not a Food Network star or a well-known chef, the way most women in kitchens come to us via our television. I doubt that she is highly paid or wealthy…yet. She is a woman doing commerce in the legalized pot industry in Colorado. I thought, finally a way for women who can cook and/or grow things and also run a business to make a real living. This is big business and one where women are already finding a way to connect with other women to define the industry and benefit financially from their efforts. The segment can be viewed at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/making-the-marijuana-business-women-friendly
I remember that after I viewed the final season of Weeds, I mentioned to my husband that maybe I should get into the pot business some day when it is legalized more widely. He laughed and reminded me that most plants I care for die and that although I make amazing cookies, my long-term ability to whip up delicious pot treats doesn’t exist. So I will just watch from the sideline as those pioneering Colorado women lead the way.
Until next time.
Debra Hadsall
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