Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer

I have always wondered what it means to have a connection to the land.  My husband and I had seven acres on SaltSpring Island that we tried to keep as natural as possible and I did love that land, but I’m not sure that is the connection I’ve read about. 

After listening to Braiding Sweet Grass, I have a better understanding of the gifts we receive daily from the land and I now think that having a connection to the land doesn’t always mean a specific piece of land, but all land - Mother Earth.

This book is chalk full of uplifting stories about ways people are healing the wounds we’ve made on the land.  I had a sense of anticipation every day, knowing that I was going to put in my EarPods and hear more of what Robin had to say. 

The last chapter struck me as the most challenging, and I mean that in a good way. We have daily choices to make that will determine if our world will survive and Robin lays out these choices.

I have decided, as a result of listening to this book, to plant more trees in my yard in California; draught tolerant trees that will provide a habitat for the birds, shade for the animals and us and will eventually lower the temperature in our yard. 

It’s a lot to expect a book to change a life but I believe this book has the power to change the world.