This is wonderful writing. There's a new book by Robin Wall Kimmere called the ServiceBerry, I've not read it yet, but it does talk about how in Nature, gift giving is part of a reciprocal relationship...
Thanks! I'd also like to point out the Irish tradition of gift giving, my mother would never arrive at anyone else's house without a box of biscuits, and if someone came to ours, there would also be a box of biscuits. We'd never be allowed to eat these biscuits, and I suspect some boxes were circulated for a while before being opened.
You never wanted to be the one accused of arriving 'with one arm as long as the other' ie without a gift, the Irish have notoriously long memories so the crime of being thought of as 'mean' could have a very long tail.
There's an episode of the Irish sit com Father Ted where the housekeeper and her friend fight over who's turn it is to pay for lunch 'put your money away' etc. I found this hilarious as I can say from experience that female relatives often did this to the bemusement and amusement of everyone around them. Gift economies are still a real thing there.
This is wonderful writing. There's a new book by Robin Wall Kimmere called the ServiceBerry, I've not read it yet, but it does talk about how in Nature, gift giving is part of a reciprocal relationship...
That essay can be read here: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/the-serviceberry/
Thanks! I'd also like to point out the Irish tradition of gift giving, my mother would never arrive at anyone else's house without a box of biscuits, and if someone came to ours, there would also be a box of biscuits. We'd never be allowed to eat these biscuits, and I suspect some boxes were circulated for a while before being opened.
You never wanted to be the one accused of arriving 'with one arm as long as the other' ie without a gift, the Irish have notoriously long memories so the crime of being thought of as 'mean' could have a very long tail.
There's an episode of the Irish sit com Father Ted where the housekeeper and her friend fight over who's turn it is to pay for lunch 'put your money away' etc. I found this hilarious as I can say from experience that female relatives often did this to the bemusement and amusement of everyone around them. Gift economies are still a real thing there.
Thank you Ellie. Another beautiful constellation of light in the eternal fabric of love! X