#86: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

"As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us."

Pages: 386 | Published: 2013

This was a beautiful book. I checked it out from the library several months ago and after reading a few pages, I knew I needed to own it. I wanted to take my time rather than be under any pressure to return it.

What is it about?

In a collection of short stories, Ms. Kimmerer writes poetically and lovingly about the natural world. She is a storyteller and environmentalist who practices what she preaches. Her thesis is expressed succinctly but repeated multiple times throughout: “It is not the earth that needs repairing, but our relationship with the earth.”

How did it make me feel?

I’ve read a couple books on environmentalism and climate change over the past few years, and this one felt different. It is certainly the most spiritual (though not in a religious sense) and the least focused on technology. Rather than encourage to drive electric cars and recycle (though I’m sure she’s not opposed to such actions), Ms. Kimmerer advocates for loving the earth and recognizing how much it loves us in return.

Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.

The earth loves its inhabitants, human and non-human alike, and gives us so many gifts. Ms. Kimmerer encourages us to recognize those gifts and feel gratitude and contentment for them. Rather than an attitude of scarcity, we can adopt an attitude that “incites a cycle of reciprocity” where gifts are passed along.

Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.

This book contains powerful ideas that, for me, reframed the human-earth relationship, the human-animal relationship, and even the human-human relationship. I hope, if you read it, you find life-altering transcendence in these pages.

If you have read it, I’d really enjoy hearing your thoughts!

Thanks for being here,
Kyle