Gift economies are deeply rooted in abundance rather than lack. They are a reflection, or amplification of nature which provides everything we need without keeping a balance, or asking for exchange. The exchange happens by itself because the underlying intelligence of this planet and this universe is structured in such a way that everything works hand in hand. At the material level for example, nature, when unfolding freely, provides what we need to take in such as food, water and oxygen, and we provide what is needed to keep that connected web going when our bodies expel what we don’t need. Of course this process of mutual benefit can be amplified and used in manifold ways. We will see exactly that emerging more and more in the years to come as the Earth realigns itself.
Most of us know the gratifying and joyful feeling of sharing what is plentiful, seeing a smile on another person’s face simply because we have given something which we could not have used up ourselves anyway because suddenly all the apples ripen at once, zucchinis grow abundantly to a huge size within a week, a new technology can suddenly provide much more than one community can use etc. This is the foundation for gift economies and happens naturally when we take back our power, recognise the abundance of this world and begin to live it, now. There is no room for scarcity on this planet. It has been introduced artificially. It is a synthetic construct built upon the destruction, manipulation and suppression of nature.
Because of the introduced scarcity which currently is still part fo the reality on this planet, gift economies require the ability to live a somewhat flexible life in these times, until nature has taken her power back fully through us, all other beings and the planet itself. We can build gift economies now if we have the flexibility to use what is abundant in this moment rather than insisting in prescribed ways of living which require very specific means at all times. We can and need to establish exchange systems with our neighbours and between communities which do not rely on money as financial structures and centralised institutions are failing at an incredibly fast speed now and are increasingly forcing us into ways of being which are not natural and do not support the life that makes us human.
Gift economies are built on, and nourish relationships. Sharing strengthens the bond between humans and societies – when we truly see each other and interact in integrity. Here is a wonderful story of gifting, involving what would seem like a very unequal exchange, and yet that thought only arises out of the deep programming that the financial world has brought to us as the story beautifully explains:
When you operate at the frequency setting of abundance, at a very physical level, then nature herself will be the balance as you are an expression of nature. You will be provided what you need now. This is not a future dream. I have lived it for many years without using any techniques of manifesting wealth, or even striving for an income. Admittedly I live a simple and minimalistic life, yet a very rich one, traveling the world, while rarely working in exchange for money. Whenever I needed money it came either in the form of work that I could truly enjoy and was aligned with who I am rather than vice versa, or it suddenly came into my life in the form of a study grant, a gift etc., or what I needed was provided directly without money being included at all. All this happened without me asking for it. It just came into my field. It materialised. This is simply a frequency setting which one is either resonating at, or not. It is a setting of sharing and independence because what is needed is provided by the very foundation of what sustains life on this planet, that underlying intelligence that I call nature.
Technologies which reflect nature’s abundance will play an important role in the future unfolding of gift economies. Such technologies include free/etherial energy systems, water-oil conversion technologies, sound and water-energising technologies which amplify plant growth etc. The stories of indigenous peoples and old folklore still hold the memory of a world of abundance on this planet, a world which many believe belongs to the realm of fairy tales, but it does not. We will see it. Young people will play an important role in developing and re-establishing nature’s technologies in the coming years and decades. Here is a sweet introductory presentation about free energy:
We can and should also focus on setting up some basic infrastructures which make exchange rooted in gift economies possible between geographic regions and societies, esp. ethical transport systems. I am a great supporter of the worldwide movement to return to the use of local materials, foods etc., but if for example Africa has lots of baskets and other hand-crafted high-frequency products, and Europe has increasingly healthy technology, then why not exchange so that we all can benefit from both? And why would such an exchange have to be rooted in a financial system which puts prices on things that do not reflect its ever-changing value in the system of nature. If we live in a world of abundance, then there is no need for that.
Lastly I would like to share with you that – like just about every high-frequency movement, or concept – the term gift economy has been hijacked and is used in contexts which have nothing to do with what I am writing about. For example, the social media landscape is often called a gift economy because we don’t have to pay for our Facebook, Twitter etc. accounts. However it is important to know that these digital infrastructures are not free at all but have been established for concrete purposes such as the harvesting of information and data which is then used in highly intransparent (and not human-friendly) ways. Gifting is a giving without strings attached, yet is mutually nourishing, and it works in line with the principles of nature. This is very different from the social media landscape.
You can find more reading material and inspiration about gift economies on the Economies of care page of this website, including a sweet introductory video and the link to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s essay The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance. Enjoy and live abundantly! You may also like my video Gift economies – Going deeper. Let’s leave behind a world that never has been in alignment with the nature of this planet and the very foundation of life.
A poem for you
Sitting in a café in remote Ireland, my pen started writing:
Love!
Suspended, outside space and time.
Delighted, sitting here to rhyme.
Expanded, being everywhere and everything.
Connected – only so we can win.
Wishing this for all, every single being.
It’s this planet, it’s life – singing.
Be bold, move forward.
The time is now to take your part.
This is more than we have ever imagined,
unfolding within us, for us – structured and sequential.
The greatest mystery, the greatest liberty,
under our feet. With open pores and open eyes to see.
