When I wrote the invokation of Mara a few days back, I spent a lot of time thinking seriously about her titles and why each of them was important. Since then, the one that I've been thinking about the most is Mistress of the market, entrepreneurial spirit.
One of the ways I honor her is by using my money mindfully. This isn't just a matter of saving money. It's about shopping in ways that are less wasteful - which I'll talk about tomorrow, probably - and it's about where I spend my money as well.
There are lots of little choices I try to make, one of which is spending my money locally or with smaller businesses. Part of my... I don't want to say my job, because it's not a job. Part of my relationship with Mara as a goddess of money is that I am in many ways acting as her hand. She helps make it possible for me to have money, and I pass that money on when I can to artists, to people who need help, to farmers and local businesses, so in turn she makes it possible for them to have money.
I want to note that I know not everyone can afford to make some of these choices. Portland does a better job than most places of making it do-able - you can use food stamps at the farmers markets - but often it's just plain more expensive. And if you can't, you can't. It's very much the same as my charitable donations. I'm expected to be able to discern for myself when I have the money and when I don't, how I spend it, and so on. It just comes back to mindfulness.