Many Forms of Poverty, Many Forms of Wealth

Apr 19, 2016 10 min read

When a donor repeatedly repositioned Mother Teresa for the perfect photograph, treating her like an object, she responded with quiet grace. Later, she offered just one sentence of explanation: "My dear, there are many forms of poverty."

She saw beyond his financial abundance to a poverty of spirit—and met it not with judgment, but with the wealth of acceptance, tolerance, and compassion. In that simple exchange lives a radical invitation: to recognize that wealth cannot be measured by a single metric.

We swim in oceans of overlooked abundance—time, attention, community, kindness. Yet we've trained ourselves to see only one currency, leaving vast reserves of human richness untapped. What shifts when we begin to value the hour spent with an elder, the stillness of a single breath, the trust built across a neighbor's fence?

What forms of wealth are you already rich in, but haven't yet learned to see?

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace.org, a nonprofit that works at the intersection of gift-ecology, technology and volunteerism. The above is a transcript of this TEDx talk at Penn State University.

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JULIE KUCK Mar 8, 2025

I love the chart above that includes Nature, Knowledge, Compassion, Culture and Tech. I feel energized in reading their currencies, as I feel like I trade in these areas on a daily basis. Tech is like pennies for me. I try not to spend much currency in that regard. I know its benefits, as these innovations are time savers for me everyday, except when they have breakdowns, which are like free vacations for me- as in more wealth and greater health in the Nature, Culture, Compassion and Knowledge currencies of love, stories, organisms and kind acts. Increasing my capital in these areas brings me more joy and gratitude for the life I have been gifted with and led. To be one with nature and animals is to feel whole with pure love. To be one with ideas is to thrive into new experiences. To deal in kind acts is to make people's days better in big and small ways. To be one with stories is to inspire and be inspired by the stories we tell each other on Service Space. Our transactions are based ... [View Full Comment]

Allie Mar 7, 2025

wonderful reframing for all of us … Kairos

Mimi Pantelides Feb 5, 2024

Just A Moment

Shaft of sunlight,
Or angel's smile?
Dragonfly wing’s
Breath of movement.
Angel and Dragonfly sing
Touching Wings.

Everything is more than it seems at first glance.

Fiona Mar 17, 2023

I’ve often had to explain to friends in my life that I live ‘on air.’ And yet I feel I have lived a very abundant life, full of wonderful mentors and friends. I have definitely ‘lived on less’ monetarily than most, who wonder at what opportunities I have partaken in. Partly because I volunteered as an assistant teacher to travel, settled for road trips and camping with others or taking EVERYONE WHO OFFERED up on their generosity to come and visit them around North America AND I HAVE arrived on their doorsteps. This has allowed for deeper relationships and offers of money to help me when I divorced, sponsorship in retreat when I needed it most and a huge down payment on a house when I was living in my car from house sit to house sit! So much bounty in the service space!

Reply 1 reply: Lulu

Lulu Mar 5, 2024

Thank you Fiona for sharing your experiences. As I am in a turning point in my life and am questioning my ability to live independently, I feel hopeful reading your story. So grateful for your positive outcome!

Susan Mar 9, 2023

Caring connections -- at the spread of many to many to many – co-generates infinite sums of abundance. The Indra's "net" type of "net worth" is the worth I care about. Thank you as always for reminding us of what is possible.

Paul Fillinger Mar 9, 2023

The story of Servicespace is amazing. The stories, information and presentation are inspiring. I wonder where you have been. But "flying below the radar" makes your success all the more authentic. I wish I could be more reflective than praise of what you are doing.

MMSteer Mar 9, 2023

Good to be reminded. But If one has a positive impulse it’s not always that easy to discover how to present it in the way that has maximum practicality for others. One often has to persevere and not be discouraged by rejection or incomprehension.

Poorvi Aug 19, 2021

This is so simple yet so profound and a game changer! I definitely will try to ask for one of these other forms of currency in exchange for my contribution with a few people and see how it goes... We should actually run such projects in all schools.

ajay sahai Oct 3, 2018

Please contact me when you are coming to Delhi!Thanks..

Kristin Pedemonti Apr 23, 2016

Thank you for the reminder of all the forms of capital and wealth. I feel rich today indeed and so very grateful. Here's to paying it forward and sharing it all. HUGS from my heart to yours. OUr care and compassion is such incredible wealth potential too!

Marie-Claire Dagher Apr 20, 2016

It is such an important article!

Priscilla King Apr 19, 2016

Oh right! Sure! So let's start exchanging...I'll share my attention capital with overfunded, messy-looking, graphic-cluttered commercial sites when they share their surplus cash capital with me!