Darcia Narváez

it was interesting, and illuminating, to see which of these precepts and ideas resonated with me or were harder for me to delve deeply into. especially when at the foundational level, they're really all about community and openness and sharing knowledge. there's a lot of real beauty here. i especially connected with the idea of community and sharing around competitiveness, watching my son's noncompetitive waldorf school playing against other schools in basketball right now, and how they have such different ideas of how to engage with the sport. like it's not even just that the journey is different, but it's not even the same destination. which i think is what they're saying about so much in this book.

and the way they say it - it's a really nice concept and unusual in a book like this. they introduce a quote to discuss a certain precept or idea, and then the two authors basically have a back and forth conversation about it. i wish they didn't mention their own books as often as they do, but they do also talk about so many others' writings and ideas and i love how much is incorporated into each of their short answers.

i had a hard time with the healing through centering section, while finding it also really fascinating. a strange push/pull between wanting to double down on science but also give credence to self-knowledge and everything they were saying, plus the way that the institution of medicine and science has failed us. other sections resonated less but there are a few standout ones, or ones that felt more personal, like one could expect in any sort of collection.

"As vital as place-based knowledge is, this book is designed to help those with a Eurocentric mindset to begin the journey toward a concentric relationship with the earth, starting with the larger worldview that diverse Indigenous cultures share.”

“In another example of fearless connection, those who risked their lives to rescue Jews during World War II Almohad self-efficacy and a trust in the universe. When asked why they had intervened, they said things like, ‘What else could I do? There was a human being in need.’ Interestingly, when non rescuers were interviewed, they also said ‘What else could I do?’ They were lacking the self-efficacy that comes from practice…”

“Among gift economies like those of Native Americans, gifts are not considered private property but things that are always in the process of movement. A gift is not to be kept but is rather to be given to members of the community in the pattern the local group has established. Among gift economies, which occur all over the world, the cardinal property of a gift is for it to be given away, not kept, to keep the gift alive and the momentum going…”… (mere)