Braiding Sweetgrass: Rediscovering Sacred Bonds with Nature by Sylvie Abate
- Sylvie
- May 26
- 2 min read
Updated: May 29
Every year, I choose a theme to guide my reading journey—something I want to explore more deeply, something that feels like it’s calling me. Last year, I immersed myself in the world of songwriters and the songwriting process (I'll share more on that in a future post). This year, I’ve found myself drawn to the intersection of nature, philosophy, and spirituality.
The first book on my list is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer—and I’m savoring every page. It’s the kind of book that doesn’t just educate; it awakens. Like a long-lost memory rising to the surface, it has brought clarity to something I’ve always felt but couldn’t quite name: that Western culture—and much of Western religion—has become dangerously disconnected from beauty, from nature, from reverence.
Kimmerer is a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She writes from both worlds: the scientific and the indigenous, the analytical and the intuitive. Through her, we are reminded that the earth is not just a resource—it is a teacher, a relative, a sacred being.
Reading Braiding Sweetgrass feels like being invited into a quieter, slower rhythm—the rhythm of the land. Whether she’s writing about strawberries or moss, motherhood or ceremony, Kimmerer shows us that nature is full of teachings if only we remember how to listen. She weaves stories of asters and goldenrod, of sweetgrass gathered with prayer, of the power of gratitude and the wisdom in reciprocity.
In one passage, she reflects on the idea that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. That resonated with me deeply. Why did we ever stop seeing it that way?
In a time when the world feels increasingly fractured, Braiding Sweetgrass invites us back to wholeness. If you're looking for a book that speaks to the soul, that challenges and comforts, that gently nudges you to live with more reverence, more awareness, more love—this is it. And if you, like me, have ever felt like you were born with a quiet longing for something more connected, more meaningful, more beautiful—Braiding Sweetgrass might feel like home.
More soon as I continue down this year’s reading path—but for now, I’ll leave you with this thought: The earth gives freely. What can we give in return?
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