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Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World | Robin Wall Kimmerer
12 posts | 9 read | 1 reading | 14 to read
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world. As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry's relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth--its abundance of sweet, juicy berries--to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, "Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency." As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is "a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world." The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that "hoarding won't save us, all flourishing is mutual."
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Chelsea.Poole
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“All flourishing is mutual.”
“We don‘t all have to own everything.”

A lovely little book singing the praises of libraries and the “gift economy” with examples from nature. A beautiful volume full of lovely illustrations of cedar waxwings and plants. Very slim, but does its job perfectly. A wonderful reminder to spread the wealth and as always from Kimmerer, keep our natural environment in mind.

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Tamra
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Love this invitation! We all do this anyway, but by being actively conscious of it we can better appreciate the gifts we‘ve been given and those we give. We can even level up.

DimeryRene This is beautiful!! I‘ve always wanted to read her other book. Adding this to my list as well. 3w
Tamra @DimeryRene if you enjoy nature writing, you‘ll love her work! 💚 3w
DimeryRene @Tamra I will definitely read her in 2025! 3w
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Tamra
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Kimmerer‘s writing is always lovely and this is no exception.

Excellent ecological & economic ethos to focus on in the new year: restraint, respect, reciprocity. We can each contribute in our own ways.

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Floresj
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Beautiful manifesto

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thecheckoutstack
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I was delighted to unwrap this little book today from my mother in law. It just so happened to be a rec in the latest episode of the podcast for the theme of “Resetting in the New Year”. Can‘t wait to dive in.

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Cortg
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This is more of an essay about how we as a society are too dependent on consumerism and our economy and how we should cut back and share/gift more. As a librarian with 2 Little Free Libraries, a Caring Cupboard at work, a food donation bin that always seems to be full and a new found love of sewing/upcycling, I whole heartily agree. She uses the Serviceberry throughout the book as she makes her points. I very much appreciated this one.

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Jen2
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Loved it!!!!

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rachelsbrittain
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One last wild travel day. I usually get a lot of reading done on airplanes but entertaining a toddler has really gotten in the way of any reading time 😅 ##WeekendReads

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sebrittainclark
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4/5

I thought this was a really lovely essay about what we can learn from the serviceberry and ecology more broadly about gratitude, reciprocity, community, and gift economies. I found it's message very inspiring.

#netgalley

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underground_bks
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Fans of Braiding Sweetgrass, rejoice! Robin Wall Kimmerer has blessed us with a compulsively shareable contemplation of nature‘s exquisite gift economy and how it can inspire us to imagine and act toward a saner, more sustainable, equitable, and joyful biophilic economy. As I was reading, I kept feeling that a new classic had arrived in the nick of time, one I imagine becoming an annual tradition to read, revisit, and grow from each time.

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