February 26 - Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

“The land knows you, even when you are lost,” writes Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass (page 36).

“The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness. Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world,” writes Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass (page 222).

In February’s Literary Salon, we will be inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s insights into being connected caretakers of the natural world and see how Braiding Sweetgrass supplies solutions to the challenges of today. Chosen for Ventura College’s One Book One Campus,  VC students and faculty fell in love with the message of cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the living world.

In this series, we engage our senses and heighten awareness via discussions and writing prompts led by award winning wine writer and Ventura College adjunct English professor Gwendolyn Alley. February focuses on inspiration from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s insights into being connected caretakers of the natural world from her book Braiding Sweetgrass. How can we cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the living world? What can we learn if we see plants as our teachers from a scientific and an indigenous perspective?

As the sun sinks into the Pacific beside the Channel Islands at 5:47pm, we will arrive and settle in. We will have butcher paper up for discussion questions and favorite quotes from the reading. No need to finish the book before our meeting, but please bring a copy of the book with you for reference as we discuss the book, its themes, and the ways we can apply its lessons to our lives finishing at 8pm.  Please bring a notebook and a fast pen or two. You are welcome to bring a sketchbook if you would like to draw.