Braiding Sweetgrass

My sister recommended the book, Braiding Sweetgrass, for an informal reading group of friends and family. I was completely blown away by Sweetgrass. Her stories and perspectives wound together with science and real people make it impossible to avoid her prompting to ‘do something’. The smallest actions done with humility and gratitude go so far.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braiding_Sweetgrass
As Skywoman descended to Turtle Island and shared her wondrous gifts, my own perspective was altered, modified to better understand the power of gift giving:
“It is the cardinal difference between gift and commodity exchange that a gift establishes a feeling-bond between two people.”
Braiding Sweetgrass
That point is further pushed when she talks about private land and how to reflect on ownership.
“In Western thinking, private land is understood to be a “bundle of rights,” whereas in a gift economy property has a “bundle of responsibilities” attached”
Braiding Sweetgrass
The book gives clear actionable advice on how to recover our relationship with the earth and other creatures … both practical ‘can do’ and spiritual ‘change the way you think’. I found several mental exercises that I intuitively do that were reinforced here with rationale as to ‘why’.
I highly recommend the read.