What can we give?

I think this is the first time the Gamble Oak in my backyard is growing acorns since we moved into our house five summers ago. The tree is not very large so maybe this is the first acorn batch as it grows into maturity but it may also be the normal cycle of this tree. Gamble Oaks grow acorns on an irregular schedule every 3 - 5 years. The reason is believed to be that acorns are so cherished by the forest fauna that a big crop needs to be grown and dropped in order for some to survive to seed new trees. Not having an acorn growth every year allows the tree to have larger growth years, but sporadically.

This pattern of growth is not just symbolic but a real example of how we can think about our own interaction with each other and the natural world. 

A few weeks ago I got to see Robin Wall Kimmerer speak at NAU. Robin has written three of the most influential books I have read in my life, Gathering Moss, Braiding Sweetgrass, and The Serviceberry. She has an incredible ability to write about scientific ideas with a poetic rhythm to communicate countless life lessons the natural world is waiting to share with us. Her talk at NAU was focused on the themes of her latest book, The Serviceberry, and I have been mulling over what she said everyday since. She simply has a different perspective that is so obvious once it is pointed out, and leaves you feeling like you're living with one eye closed. 

One topic she spoke about was the modern concept of sustainability. This framework assigns terms like natural resources to water, oil, wood, land, etc. Although the intention is earnest, labeling these natural elements as resources still has the undertones of "they are there for us to take and use". So much of the modern sustainability movement is about taking less, but what if instead we asked, what can we give? We all know giving is receiving, so why does that notion stop in the human world? We should be extending this practice to the natural world. We, humans, are a part of the natural world and we have a place in it. Unlike many modern Western sustainability movement figureheads, Robin is a humanist. She believes we are an important part of the natural world but we need to act like the rest of the inhabitants and participate in the giving economy instead of the taking. Like this Gamble Oak, it gives its acorns and in return, some of them get carried away and seed into new trees. 

I have a poem printed out that I keep on my desk. It goes:

Even

after

all this time

the sun never says to the Earth

"you owe me."

Look

what happens

with a love like that,

it lights the whole sky.

-Hafiz

So while you are using reusable shopping bags and leaving the water off as you brush your teeth, just start to ponder the question, what can I give?