Introduction

Gifts change the way relationships are formed.
All prosperity is reciprocal.
Redistribution of wealth through sharing and giving
Everyone doesn't have to have everything.
The foundation of life is not competition, but coexistence.
We have joy and justice, Berry.

An invitation to join the gift economy
Acknowledgements
Offering
References

★ Highly recommended by Kim Gyul-wool (author) and Lee So-young (botanical artist)!
★ An Amazon bestseller immediately after publication!
★ Jane Goodall, 『Eat, Pray, Love』 recommended by Elizabeth Gilbert!
★ Scientific American, Forbes, Library Journal Best Book of the Year!

“When we see what has been given to us as a gift, not a commodity,
“The relationship between the world and me changes completely.”

The secret to a rich life discovered by a botanist in nature,
And how to restore lost relationships

When we talk about the laws of nature, words like survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle come to mind first, but in fact, nature is a being that gives generously.
Trees, the producers of the forest, transform the gifts of light, water, and air into leaves, flowers, and fruits.
Spring rain and sunshine make flowers bloom and provide a feast for insects, and insects repay the favor by carrying pollen.
When summer comes and the branches are full of fruit, birds fly in to fill their hungry stomachs and in return spread the seeds far and wide.
In this way, the members of the forest share what they have with each other and circulate.
Gifts grow, become richer, and sweeter with each share.
If nature acted only for its own benefit, the forests would have disappeared.
Anishinaabe linguist James Bukelich says plants give what they have to anyone who needs it, “whether they are saints or sinners.”
This is the plant's “expression of unconditional love” and its way of sharing and giving.
As always, in the face of a modern economic system that competes for possession and actively harms what we love, Kimmerer turns to nature, the most ancient teacher.
His attempt to redefine the relationship between nature and humanity by combining the indigenous ecological wisdom of indigenous peoples with scientific methodology brings about a new way of relating based on ‘gift’, ‘sharing’, ‘respect’, and ‘reciprocity’.
He finds in the world of forests and fields a sense of belonging, relationships, and the true meaning of life that we have lost.

A fulfilling life that connects and expands the more you share.
Nature's invitation for those tired of endless competition!

In the Anishinaabe traditional worldview, everything the land provides is considered a gift, from fruits to basket branches and firewood.
Everything that makes our lives possible comes from the life of beings beyond human beings.
This is always true whether you harvest it straight from the forest or buy it at the store.
If we view it as a gift, rather than an object, a natural resource, or a commodity, our relationship with nature changes completely.
A store-bought fur hat will keep you warm, but if it's made by a loved one, it feels completely different.
Because hats as gifts are intertwined with relationships.
This is the hidden power of gift thinking.


Since ancient times, indigenous peoples have changed themselves to fit the land, rather than changing the land to fit themselves.
We went to the place and time when the abundance of nature arrived and welcomed that abundance.
Nature, represented by serviceberries in this book, does not come by force and leaves no carbon footprint.
It is a sip of summer that is even sweeter because it does not have the “aftertaste of harming nature.”
Instead of spouting off empty words, Kimmerer shows us what we can do in this world right now.
When friends invite us over for dinner, when we pass on a toy to a newborn, when we share a box of tangerines and repay with other treats.
The gift economy is already everywhere.
When we begin to pay attention and name it, we will see the gifts flowing around us.


Kimmerer argues that the wealth and security we crave can be achieved not by accumulating capital as we commonly think, but by sharing what we have.
Relationships, gratitude and respect, interdependence, connection, and the cycle of continuous reciprocity are the lessons of nature he discovered in the plant world.
Based on this, he proposes that we create a new system to protect what we love.

In times of confusion, in times of despair that are too easy
A book that awakens the strength and hope to change our lives!

Our economy today is rooted in scarcity, competition, and resource hoarding.
This not only ruins our relationship with the Earth and our neighbors, but also destroys the ecosystem and increases global imbalance.
This book, which raises the question not only "What do we receive from nature?" but also "What do we give to nature?", clearly demonstrates the author's attitude of understanding the ways in which those who care for themselves take nature's instructions to heart and putting them into practice.
In this book, Kimmerer capitalizes the first letter of his name to represent an indigenous way of thinking that breaks away from the conventional wisdom of human exceptionalism and that the humanity of all beings, human or not, is equally important.
In the Korean version, 'nim' is added to the names of plants and animals with the first letter capitalized.
It's like 'Baby Yeo Sae-nim', 'Gaedongjippagwi-nim', 'Service Berry-nim'.
Many animals are also referred to as 'people'.
We are 'human people', and non-human animals are 'non-human people'.
Here, 'human' refers to Homo sapiens, and 'people' refers to all beings that communicate and interact with each other.
This expression may feel a little unfamiliar.
But once we move beyond strangers, we will begin to sense how our relationships change when we use language that respects all beings.

The small innovations that Kimmerer demonstrates in this book are truly inspiring.
Some people share the zucchini they harvested from their front yards, while others fill buckets with sweet service berries for the townspeople to take home.
Some people share their amazing lasagna with their elderly neighbors, while Kimmerer himself gives a book he's just finished to a friend.
Of course, no exchange of material compensation occurs in this process.
Instead, relationships, bonds, and stories emerge.
The currency of the gift economy at this time is the happy smile on each other's faces, which is infinitely reproduced and multiplied through the flow of gifts that follow.
Each person's sharing leads to another sharing, and the gifts go around and around.
This book introduces a perspective that sees what has been given to us as a gift.
You will experience a complete change in your relationship with the world.


"If the sun is the source of flow in the natural economy, what is the 'sun' that constantly replenishes the flow of gifts in the human gift economy? Perhaps it's love." (p. 29)