My co-authors and I created The Inheritance Project in 1992. We were three women with inherited wealth who wanted to challenge the strong taboo that forbids inheritors (we decided against using “heirs” because it is tainted with negative associations) from speaking openly about how different their lives are from almost everyone else: they (we) have enough wealth that we can choose whether to work or not. This is indeed good fortune in one sense, but it can also be a huge obstacle. Inheritors are more likely than not to feel paralyzed the absence of necessity that gets other people out of bed in the morning. Far too many of us drift rudderless in our lives, unable to take hold of anything meaningful and fulfilling. Far too many of us have addictions. Far too many of us find it difficult, or impossible, to sustain intimate relationships.
My two partners—Katherine Gibson and Margaret Federico—wanted to find out about each other, and we began by listening to each other tell our stories—for hours.
We also wanted to find others we could talk to whose situations were like our own. We started our exploration not knowing what we would find. Looking back, I think that was a good place to start: our minds and our hearts were open. Over the next eight years we interviewed hundreds of inheritors. The stories we heard were almost always compelling, and we knew that we needed to share these stories with others.
We described our work as “interviews,” but when I think about it now, I prefer to call what happened “conversations.” Yes, we did ask questions, both specific and open-ended, but “interviews” is too formal a description for what happened; we met the other person in a deeper way—heart to heart.
And we listened. Dave Isay, the founder of storycorps.org, says, “Listening is an act of love.” Through doing this work we ourselves were transformed. Speaking for myself, hearing the candid stories of other inheritors broke my strong sense of isolation and dismantled the shame and guilt I had felt so strongly. “Journey” has become an overused word, but my work (and I can say the same for Katherine and Meg) has been an amazing journey.
In the blog entries to come, I will share parts of stories from our three books (one book, Like a Second Mother: Nannies and Housekeepers in the Lives of Wealthy Children, is out of print), as well as stories from the booklets we (and wealth counselor Dennis Pearne) have written on various subjects that go to the heart of the world of inherited wealth. I also want to include some letters and e-mails that have come to us from inheritors who have read our works. Please visit this site often (maybe every two weeks, if you are really keen) and see what is new. And start posting!
