Camilla, this is another chapter that is resonating so much with me. I couldn’t agree more that it is time for “re-storying of how we understand ourselves, one another, the Earth, and consciousness itself.” There are many ways to do the work of the Great Turning and story telling is a powerful one. RWK has touched my heart ever since I stumbled upon Braiding Sweetgrass. She is a master storyteller, weaving stories ancient and new.
A bow of gratitude to you for offering your beautiful gifts to the world!
Leah, thank you so much. Your words mean a great deal, especially coming from someone whose own work is so devoted to reweaving our relationship with the Earth. I love how you describe storytelling as one of the ways we participate in the Great Turning. Stories have always shaped how we see the world, and perhaps they can help us remember a more life-giving way of belonging to it. And yes—Robin has been such a profound teacher for me too. Thank you for your encouragement and for the beautiful work you offer in the world🙏💚
Hi Camilla, What a treat it is to sit and listen how you link these threads to the need for us to "discern which stories are lovingly laid to rest", and to recreate and reimagine. I suspect all stories carry an aspect of consciousness, however dark it may be. I believe it is a very powerful act to be able to be able to metaphorically and literally hold one's hand at arms length and simply state, I reject what you're projecting. At what point do we discern what energy we give in refuting stories that are so well worn and well, divisive that in doing so ... well, you know what I am saying — In the laying to rest. There certainly needs a balance of the kind that takes the shape of the labyrinth, walking the path and in the restorative power of the divine feminine. Thank you, I will need to come back and listen again, of course. That's just my initial feeling into listening, not a dawn, i am in front of the fire this time, before i head off for sleep🔥 🙏🌀💖
Simone, thank you for such a beautiful reflection. ❤️ I found myself lingering over your question about how much energy we give to refuting old stories. I think discernment is exactly what is called for. Some stories need to be named so we can see them clearly, but there also comes a moment when continuing to wrestle with them only keeps them alive. That is where the work of creating new stories — and remembering more more nourishing stories like Skywoman — becomes so important.
I particularly love this and agree with you: "I believe it is a very powerful act to be able to be able to metaphorically and literally hold one's hand at arms length and simply state, I reject what you're projecting."
And yes, the labyrinth reminds us that transformation isn't about winning an argument but about walking a path that slowly changes us from within. Thank you for listening so deeply. Sleep well by the fire, and I look forward to hearing what else arises when you return to it🔥🙏🌀💖
Thank you. 🙏 I do believe the fear needs to be called out and named; not with the same hateful energy (e.g., politicians spewing anti immigration rhetoric) — how can we support people to use their soul discernment when in their minds, they are convinced their future lies in the hands of politicians?
And we have our own, including women such as Pauline Hanson who reads the same script in the senate as 30 years ago. I don’t hate anyone, though I seriously find it hard to look at her, let alone listen to it. It’s like a fire runs through my body. So, how does one reject those voices with ‘love’? How do we quieten the hateful rage of politicians. Collapse that system of governance? Capitalism?
I do love your point about western science meeting indigenous wisdom, I agree that they can (and do) coincide beautifully. It really boils down to people not attaching so fiercely to identifying with their beliefs, coupled with the lack perspective that this material existence is all that we are. And look at me in the point above, attaching to my own 🤣🤦🏼♀️🙏
I figure some of my impatience is that I would like to see the shifts in this lifetime, so I jump ahead a bit. I choose the timeline that sees humanity evolve into what your book so beautifully explores as possibility and probability. Thank you for your work. No doubt there is an aspect of my soul that can already see that ‘future’ vision. Thank you. 🙏🌀💖
Simone, I so appreciate your honesty—and your self-awareness🥰 I smiled when you caught yourself doing exactly what you were describing. We all do it! I think that's part of the practice: noticing when we've become attached or identified with our views and opinions, and gently returning to that observing awareness♥️🔥🙏 easier said that done🤣
I don't think loving means approving of harmful words or remaining silent. Sometimes love is the courage to speak clearly, set firm boundaries, and refuse to participate in fear. The deeper challenge, at least for me, is not allowing the voices we oppose to determine the quality of our own hearts.
And I share your longing to see these shifts in our lifetime. Perhaps that longing is itself part of why we're here—to help imagine, embody, and nourish the future we can already sense, even if we won't see its full blossoming yet. Thank you for walking this path with me and for bringing such depth to the conversation🙏🌀💖
🤣🤣 ... I am well aware of my socialist-left tendencies, and fully accept this defining characteristic of my human personality — thank goodness I inherited my mother's sense of humour. Is this love? I think your definition of 'love' in this context is self love, to be able to 'set firm boundaries and refuse to participate in fear' — love as sovereignty. My love for humanity means I would not refute hate with the same energy, and I love this, "not allowing the voices we oppose to determine the quality of our own hearts." We need to be able to choose to operate from a heart centred space because the duality ain't going anywhere, though we can live peacefully in it. As people grow into their own power, they simply wont give the fear mongers and haters their energy. This is how we will co exist peacefully. The left also need to listen to their hearts. Thank you Camilla. 🙏🌀💖
Simone, I love this. ❤️ "Love as sovereignty" feels like such a beautiful way to express it. To me, sovereignty is the freedom to choose the quality of our own consciousness regardless of what is happening around us. It doesn't ask us to withdraw from the world or stop caring deeply. It asks us to respond from the deepest part of ourselves rather than simply react to the fears and projections around us.
And I especially appreciate your final point. If enough people stop feeding fear with fear, the old stories gradually lose their power, because they stop being the stories we are living. That, perhaps, is how new myths are born: one heart, one conversation, one courageous act of presence at a time.
Thank you for deepening this conversation. It inspires me 🙏🌀💖
Hi Camilla, I experience sovereignty as aligning my human thoughts and actions; choices, with my soul's free will — and yes, that means "responding from the deepest part of ourselves", from our human aspect so that we do not perform a spiritual bypass which can take people away from "feeling deeply", i.e., expressing and accepting all of their emotions. We are all connected. Our souls chose the grounded-ness of this human experience, to evolve here, not outta here. Thank you. 🙏🌀💖
Camilla — I just reviewed your TOC and — wow! — this is SO the book that’s needed now. I finally finished my big project so will get back on track with this. Thank you for this gorgeous offering. 🙌✨💫
Julie, thank you so much🥰 That means a great deal, especially knowing all you've been holding with your own project. And congratulations on finishing it! I look forward to hearing more about it.
I'm grateful you're walking alongside this book, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts as you dive back in. 🙌✨💛
Thank you for your inspiring post from your forthcoming book A Balanced Earth & for the backstory of book Braiding Sweetgrass. Your insights around past stories/myths and a re-telling from the perspective of nurturing the Divine Feminine are helpful and offer guidance for ways forward at this critical turning point called by many, our sixth-mass extinction.
Hi Marjorie, Thank you for reading and commenting. I'm happy to hear this chapter resonated with you.
I share your sense that we are living through a profound turning point. While the ecological crises we face are immense, I also believe they invite us to remember different ways of seeing and belonging. Stories have always shaped how we relate to one another and to the living Earth. If we can begin to tell stories rooted in reciprocity, kinship, and care, perhaps we can also begin to imagine—and create—a different future.
If you feel called, I would love for you to continue with the rest of the book—I think many of these threads deepen and unfold in meaningful ways as the journey continues.
Thank you for reading so thoughtfully and for sharing your response💚
Camilla! This was such a wonderful chapter. The story of Braiding Sweetgrass’s publishing success happening 7 years after its publication, at a time when the culture needed it — was such a perfect example to go along with this chapter!
And you said it so well at the end here with these two lines —
Thank you so much for your ongoing support, Michael. And I'm so glad you responded to the part about the book's publishing story. I find that incredibly hopeful—that sometimes a book simply arrives before the culture is ready to receive it. Robin Wall Kimmerer's journey reminds me that we can only offer our work with sincerity and trust its timing. I'm delighted those closing lines resonated with you as well. Thank you for reading so thoughtfully🙏📚✨
You bring together so many different and important threads in this chapter, Camilla. And Braiding Sweetgrass- such a beautiful book. I read it for a class and the discussions were very inspiring.
Thanks so much, Priya. 🥰 Braiding Sweetgrass has been such an influential book for me. I can imagine it sparked some wonderful conversations in a class setting. I'm so glad this chapter resonated with you, and I appreciate you taking the time to share♥️🔥🙏
This piece touched something soft and old in me. Braiding Sweetgrass is one of my most beloved books -- a true companion text -- and I've long considered Kimmerer a Soul Sister.
When I first read her, I had just begun forming a deeper, reciprocal relationship with Mother Earth, and her words felt like a confirmation, a blessing, a whisper saying, "Yes, you're on the right path."
Your post carried that same medicine. The way you wove gratitude, belonging, and the quiet intelligence of the land felt like sitting again with Kimmerer's teachings -- that gentle reminder that the Earth is not a resource but a relative, and that tending her is an act of devotion.
Thank you for sharing this. It was nourishing to read, and it met me right where my own roots are growing. XO
Thank you Danielle. I love that Braiding Sweetgrass has been such a companion for you too. I know exactly what you mean about Kimmerer's writing feeling like a confirmation that we're remembering something we've always intuitively known.
It means a great deal to hear that this chapter carried some of that same spirit for you. Your phrase, "it met me right where my own roots are growing," is lovely. May we all continue growing those roots—into the Earth, into reciprocity, and into the deeper remembering that we truly belong. Thank you for your words and your presence here♥️🔥🙏
I found myself wondering how different our world might be if every girl heard the Skywoman creation story. And I love how she comes with seeds reminding all of us to be seed planters - scattering our daily acts with loving intention - without concern as to where they might land. How fun. How healing. I also so appreciate your weaving of the ancient story of us with today - inviting us to weave science with indigenous knowing. In doing so, we just may discover they point to the same truths - just using a different lens. Another way we may come to harmony and wholeness. Thank you! I love reading your writing!
Stephanie, thank you so much. 🥹 Your reflection about every girl growing up with Skywoman instead of Eve gave me goosebumps. What stories we inherit shape what we believe is possible, and I do wonder how differently we might see ourselves, one another, and the Earth if Skywoman's story had been our cultural inheritance. I also love your image of being seed planters—offering what we can with love and trusting that life will take care of the rest. And yes, it feels increasingly clear to me that science and Indigenous wisdom are illuminating many of the same truths from different directions. Thank you for reading so deeply and for always bringing such thoughtful insights♥️🔥🙏
Camilla, this is another chapter that is resonating so much with me. I couldn’t agree more that it is time for “re-storying of how we understand ourselves, one another, the Earth, and consciousness itself.” There are many ways to do the work of the Great Turning and story telling is a powerful one. RWK has touched my heart ever since I stumbled upon Braiding Sweetgrass. She is a master storyteller, weaving stories ancient and new.
A bow of gratitude to you for offering your beautiful gifts to the world!
Leah, thank you so much. Your words mean a great deal, especially coming from someone whose own work is so devoted to reweaving our relationship with the Earth. I love how you describe storytelling as one of the ways we participate in the Great Turning. Stories have always shaped how we see the world, and perhaps they can help us remember a more life-giving way of belonging to it. And yes—Robin has been such a profound teacher for me too. Thank you for your encouragement and for the beautiful work you offer in the world🙏💚
🙏❤️
Hi Camilla, What a treat it is to sit and listen how you link these threads to the need for us to "discern which stories are lovingly laid to rest", and to recreate and reimagine. I suspect all stories carry an aspect of consciousness, however dark it may be. I believe it is a very powerful act to be able to be able to metaphorically and literally hold one's hand at arms length and simply state, I reject what you're projecting. At what point do we discern what energy we give in refuting stories that are so well worn and well, divisive that in doing so ... well, you know what I am saying — In the laying to rest. There certainly needs a balance of the kind that takes the shape of the labyrinth, walking the path and in the restorative power of the divine feminine. Thank you, I will need to come back and listen again, of course. That's just my initial feeling into listening, not a dawn, i am in front of the fire this time, before i head off for sleep🔥 🙏🌀💖
Simone, thank you for such a beautiful reflection. ❤️ I found myself lingering over your question about how much energy we give to refuting old stories. I think discernment is exactly what is called for. Some stories need to be named so we can see them clearly, but there also comes a moment when continuing to wrestle with them only keeps them alive. That is where the work of creating new stories — and remembering more more nourishing stories like Skywoman — becomes so important.
I particularly love this and agree with you: "I believe it is a very powerful act to be able to be able to metaphorically and literally hold one's hand at arms length and simply state, I reject what you're projecting."
And yes, the labyrinth reminds us that transformation isn't about winning an argument but about walking a path that slowly changes us from within. Thank you for listening so deeply. Sleep well by the fire, and I look forward to hearing what else arises when you return to it🔥🙏🌀💖
Hi Camilla,
Thank you. 🙏 I do believe the fear needs to be called out and named; not with the same hateful energy (e.g., politicians spewing anti immigration rhetoric) — how can we support people to use their soul discernment when in their minds, they are convinced their future lies in the hands of politicians?
And we have our own, including women such as Pauline Hanson who reads the same script in the senate as 30 years ago. I don’t hate anyone, though I seriously find it hard to look at her, let alone listen to it. It’s like a fire runs through my body. So, how does one reject those voices with ‘love’? How do we quieten the hateful rage of politicians. Collapse that system of governance? Capitalism?
I do love your point about western science meeting indigenous wisdom, I agree that they can (and do) coincide beautifully. It really boils down to people not attaching so fiercely to identifying with their beliefs, coupled with the lack perspective that this material existence is all that we are. And look at me in the point above, attaching to my own 🤣🤦🏼♀️🙏
I figure some of my impatience is that I would like to see the shifts in this lifetime, so I jump ahead a bit. I choose the timeline that sees humanity evolve into what your book so beautifully explores as possibility and probability. Thank you for your work. No doubt there is an aspect of my soul that can already see that ‘future’ vision. Thank you. 🙏🌀💖
Simone, I so appreciate your honesty—and your self-awareness🥰 I smiled when you caught yourself doing exactly what you were describing. We all do it! I think that's part of the practice: noticing when we've become attached or identified with our views and opinions, and gently returning to that observing awareness♥️🔥🙏 easier said that done🤣
I don't think loving means approving of harmful words or remaining silent. Sometimes love is the courage to speak clearly, set firm boundaries, and refuse to participate in fear. The deeper challenge, at least for me, is not allowing the voices we oppose to determine the quality of our own hearts.
And I share your longing to see these shifts in our lifetime. Perhaps that longing is itself part of why we're here—to help imagine, embody, and nourish the future we can already sense, even if we won't see its full blossoming yet. Thank you for walking this path with me and for bringing such depth to the conversation🙏🌀💖
🤣🤣 ... I am well aware of my socialist-left tendencies, and fully accept this defining characteristic of my human personality — thank goodness I inherited my mother's sense of humour. Is this love? I think your definition of 'love' in this context is self love, to be able to 'set firm boundaries and refuse to participate in fear' — love as sovereignty. My love for humanity means I would not refute hate with the same energy, and I love this, "not allowing the voices we oppose to determine the quality of our own hearts." We need to be able to choose to operate from a heart centred space because the duality ain't going anywhere, though we can live peacefully in it. As people grow into their own power, they simply wont give the fear mongers and haters their energy. This is how we will co exist peacefully. The left also need to listen to their hearts. Thank you Camilla. 🙏🌀💖
Simone, I love this. ❤️ "Love as sovereignty" feels like such a beautiful way to express it. To me, sovereignty is the freedom to choose the quality of our own consciousness regardless of what is happening around us. It doesn't ask us to withdraw from the world or stop caring deeply. It asks us to respond from the deepest part of ourselves rather than simply react to the fears and projections around us.
And I especially appreciate your final point. If enough people stop feeding fear with fear, the old stories gradually lose their power, because they stop being the stories we are living. That, perhaps, is how new myths are born: one heart, one conversation, one courageous act of presence at a time.
Thank you for deepening this conversation. It inspires me 🙏🌀💖
Hi Camilla, I experience sovereignty as aligning my human thoughts and actions; choices, with my soul's free will — and yes, that means "responding from the deepest part of ourselves", from our human aspect so that we do not perform a spiritual bypass which can take people away from "feeling deeply", i.e., expressing and accepting all of their emotions. We are all connected. Our souls chose the grounded-ness of this human experience, to evolve here, not outta here. Thank you. 🙏🌀💖
Camilla — I just reviewed your TOC and — wow! — this is SO the book that’s needed now. I finally finished my big project so will get back on track with this. Thank you for this gorgeous offering. 🙌✨💫
Julie, thank you so much🥰 That means a great deal, especially knowing all you've been holding with your own project. And congratulations on finishing it! I look forward to hearing more about it.
I'm grateful you're walking alongside this book, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts as you dive back in. 🙌✨💛
Thank you for your inspiring post from your forthcoming book A Balanced Earth & for the backstory of book Braiding Sweetgrass. Your insights around past stories/myths and a re-telling from the perspective of nurturing the Divine Feminine are helpful and offer guidance for ways forward at this critical turning point called by many, our sixth-mass extinction.
Hi Marjorie, Thank you for reading and commenting. I'm happy to hear this chapter resonated with you.
I share your sense that we are living through a profound turning point. While the ecological crises we face are immense, I also believe they invite us to remember different ways of seeing and belonging. Stories have always shaped how we relate to one another and to the living Earth. If we can begin to tell stories rooted in reciprocity, kinship, and care, perhaps we can also begin to imagine—and create—a different future.
If you feel called, I would love for you to continue with the rest of the book—I think many of these threads deepen and unfold in meaningful ways as the journey continues.
Thank you for reading so thoughtfully and for sharing your response💚
Camilla! This was such a wonderful chapter. The story of Braiding Sweetgrass’s publishing success happening 7 years after its publication, at a time when the culture needed it — was such a perfect example to go along with this chapter!
And you said it so well at the end here with these two lines —
“The stories we inherit shape our consciousness.
The stories we choose shape our future.”
:)
Thank you so much for your ongoing support, Michael. And I'm so glad you responded to the part about the book's publishing story. I find that incredibly hopeful—that sometimes a book simply arrives before the culture is ready to receive it. Robin Wall Kimmerer's journey reminds me that we can only offer our work with sincerity and trust its timing. I'm delighted those closing lines resonated with you as well. Thank you for reading so thoughtfully🙏📚✨
“we can only offer our work with sincerity and trust its timing.”
— beautifully said, Camilla :)
You bring together so many different and important threads in this chapter, Camilla. And Braiding Sweetgrass- such a beautiful book. I read it for a class and the discussions were very inspiring.
Thanks so much, Priya. 🥰 Braiding Sweetgrass has been such an influential book for me. I can imagine it sparked some wonderful conversations in a class setting. I'm so glad this chapter resonated with you, and I appreciate you taking the time to share♥️🔥🙏
Dear Camilla,
This piece touched something soft and old in me. Braiding Sweetgrass is one of my most beloved books -- a true companion text -- and I've long considered Kimmerer a Soul Sister.
When I first read her, I had just begun forming a deeper, reciprocal relationship with Mother Earth, and her words felt like a confirmation, a blessing, a whisper saying, "Yes, you're on the right path."
Your post carried that same medicine. The way you wove gratitude, belonging, and the quiet intelligence of the land felt like sitting again with Kimmerer's teachings -- that gentle reminder that the Earth is not a resource but a relative, and that tending her is an act of devotion.
Thank you for sharing this. It was nourishing to read, and it met me right where my own roots are growing. XO
Thank you Danielle. I love that Braiding Sweetgrass has been such a companion for you too. I know exactly what you mean about Kimmerer's writing feeling like a confirmation that we're remembering something we've always intuitively known.
It means a great deal to hear that this chapter carried some of that same spirit for you. Your phrase, "it met me right where my own roots are growing," is lovely. May we all continue growing those roots—into the Earth, into reciprocity, and into the deeper remembering that we truly belong. Thank you for your words and your presence here♥️🔥🙏
I found myself wondering how different our world might be if every girl heard the Skywoman creation story. And I love how she comes with seeds reminding all of us to be seed planters - scattering our daily acts with loving intention - without concern as to where they might land. How fun. How healing. I also so appreciate your weaving of the ancient story of us with today - inviting us to weave science with indigenous knowing. In doing so, we just may discover they point to the same truths - just using a different lens. Another way we may come to harmony and wholeness. Thank you! I love reading your writing!
Stephanie, thank you so much. 🥹 Your reflection about every girl growing up with Skywoman instead of Eve gave me goosebumps. What stories we inherit shape what we believe is possible, and I do wonder how differently we might see ourselves, one another, and the Earth if Skywoman's story had been our cultural inheritance. I also love your image of being seed planters—offering what we can with love and trusting that life will take care of the rest. And yes, it feels increasingly clear to me that science and Indigenous wisdom are illuminating many of the same truths from different directions. Thank you for reading so deeply and for always bringing such thoughtful insights♥️🔥🙏