3min chapter

Emergence Magazine Podcast cover image

The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer

Emergence Magazine Podcast

CHAPTER

The Interconnections of Gratitude and Reciprocity

This chapter explores how gratitude connects us to deep relationships and the abundance in our lives. It highlights the importance of reciprocity in gift-giving, which strengthens community bonds and fosters a sustainable economy.

00:00
Speaker 1
Gratitude is so much more than a polite thank you. It is the thread that connects us in deep relationship, simultaneously physical and spiritual, as our bodies are fed and spirits nourished by the sense of belonging, which is the most vital of foods. Gratitude creates a sense of abundance, the knowing that you have what you need. In that climate of sufficiency, our hunger for more abates, and we take only what we need in respect for the generosity of the giver. If our first responsibility is gratitude, then our second is reciprocity, to give a gift in return. What could I give these plants in return for their generosity? It could be a direct response, like weeding, or water, or a song of thanks that sends appreciation out on the wind, or indirect, like donating to my local land trust so that more habitat for the gift givers will be saved, or making art that invites others into the web of reciprocity. Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource. I accept the gift from the bush and then spread that gift with a dish of berries to the neighbor who makes a pie to share with his friend who feels so wealthy in food and friendship that he volunteers at the food pantry. You know how it goes. To name the world as gift is to feel one's membership in the web of reciprocity. It makes you happy and it makes you accountable. Conceiving of something as a gift changes your relationship to it in a profound way, even though the physical makeup of the thing has not changed. woolly knit hat that you purchase at the store will keep you warm regardless of its origin. But if it was hand knit by your favorite auntie, then you are in relationship to that thing in a very different way. You're responsible for it and your gratitude has motive force in the world. You're likely to take much better care of the gift hat than the commodity hat, because it's knit of relationships.

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