What Forms of Wealth Are We Overlooking?

Dear Friend,

I came across something today that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, and I wanted to share it with you because I know how much you value the things that can't be measured on a balance sheet.

It's a story about Mother Teresa that Nipun Mehta shared in a TEDx talk. A major donor came to visit her in Calcutta and asked for a photo. But he kept repositioning her—move a little to the right, tilt your head back—treating this global icon of service like a prop for his perfect shot. A volunteer watching this was furious, but Mother Teresa said nothing. When the volunteer asked her why she tolerated such treatment, Mother Teresa responded with one sentence: "My dear, there are many forms of poverty." She saw in this wealthy man a poverty of spirit, and she responded not with anger but with acceptance, tolerance, and compassion—different forms of wealth entirely.

What moves me most about this is how it reframes everything. We live in a world where 62 people own more wealth than 3.5 billion others, where we're constantly putting price tags on things that used to be freely shared—giving someone a ride, cooking a meal for a neighbor. But what if we stopped equating wealth solely with money?

Mehta talks about time capital—and here's what surprised me: we play 300 million minutes of video games every single day, and 71% of people feel disengaged at work. Meanwhile, 100 million volunteer hours have built Wikipedia, and that's just 1% of what's possible. There are actually time banks now, where hours become currency.

Then there's community capital. Did you know that just eating dinner together as a family increases kids' vocabulary, test scores, and likelihood of eating vegetables while decreasing depression and violence? Yet we've lost so much of this—our trust has declined by more than half in one generation. But people like Pancho, a PhD student who moved into a gang-bordered Oakland neighborhood, are rebuilding it. He holds weekly gatherings, runs a free fruit stand, and keeps his doors unlocked. Four years in, when there's a shooting, neighbors now run toward it because they care about their community.

And attention capital—we're down to an 8-second attention span, less than a goldfish. But teaching kids simple mindfulness practices, like listening to a bell until the sound fades, can literally save lives. One student said that bell exercise stopped him from ending his life.

What I'm still thinking about is this question Mehta leaves us with: what forms of capital do we want to amplify? A Buddhist monk offered his CD not for money but for acts of kindness. One woman's "priceless act" was simply calling her mom on Christmas Eve—and found her sitting alone in the dark, crying. She packed her bags and spent Christmas with her.

I guess I'm wondering: what forms of wealth are you cultivating right now? What would change if we all started investing in time, attention, and community the way we invest in money?

With love and curiosity,
Your Friend