All Flourishing is Mutual, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s

As a botanist and member of the Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer has truly a wonderful voice. Having just finished her book, The Serviceberry, I find myself filled with gratitude. While this book is a short read, she clearly places deep thought and intention into each sentence she writes.

Through her writing, it’s evident that what she advocates for is grounded in realism, yet hopeful and beautiful enough to keep fighting for in this imperfect world. This balance makes me feel warm, as I can tell she isn’t writing naively; she fully understands how modern market economies function, why they are utilized, where they fail us, and how something better can grow in the spaces between them.

In her book, she highlights an important idea called gift economies. She explains how most modern systems are built on the assumption of scarcity, items being treated as commodities, and that value depends on how much someone has or how restricted an item is. A gift economy challenges this; it assumes everything has a reason and place, that value comes from passing gifts along rather than hoarding them.

Having read Charles Wheelan’s Naked Economics, I understand that life is no zero-sum game and that trade can benefit everyone. I believe her message isn’t to do away with this deeply enmeshed system. It’s to encourage ordinary people to shift their mindset and behaviours at a communal level. It’s to derive value from passing on gifts, to find security in giving from our abundance, and to know that when you are in need, those you help will reciprocate and sustain you in return.

A part of the book I particularly enjoyed was learning about potlatches. A potlatch is a traditional, deeply sacred ceremonial feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. In it, a host community invites guests from neighbouring nations for days of feasting, dancing, and storytelling. The host will give away vast amounts of resources and wealth to the guests as a way to celebrate. It completely contrasts modern Western traditions where hosts are given gifts for their achievements like birthdays or weddings. This is the embodiment of a gift economy. Everyone benefits to gain greater security, stronger relationships, and deeper trust.

While we often hear the economic phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats," Kimmerer’s version offers a much kinder, warmer saying, "all flourishing is mutual."

If you are reading this, I would love to be part of the gift economy by freely giving away my copy of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry and hopefully inspire someone else to take part in acts of reciprocity. If you'd like to read it, send me an email and hopefully we can get together for own little celebration of dining, unwinding, and connecting, where I can pass this book along to you.

References

Kimmerer, R.W. (2025) The serviceberry: Abundance and reciprocity in the natural world. Thorndike Press Large Print.

Wheelan, C. (2019) Naked economics: Undressing the dismal science. 3rd ed. New York, NY: WW Norton.