When I started working at Dane County Timebank two years ago, I was very interested in the idea of independence from the death grip of money over our lives. Timebanking opened the door to go beyond the constraints of money. People were exchanging their skills and resources based on something much more important than money. The exchanges were offered through a sense of lifting up the values of reciprocity, autonomy and a sense of can-do empowerment. Dignity, strength and connection were supported in these exchanges.