Circle of Giving: Why Give Away Your Expertise?

This deck is based on the opening chapter of "The Gift: Creativity & the Artist in the Modern
World" by Lewis Hyde

Author Lewis Hyde

Gifts in Motion
Early in the book, Hyde introduces us to the Kula, a ceremonial, never-ending gift exchange
practiced by the people of the Massim archipelago off New Guinea. There are two kinds of
gifts, armshells (a shell ring worn about the wrist) and shell necklaces.

The Kula Gift Circle
These gifts are exchanged around the archipelago in a circular motion; one going clockwise
and the other counterclockwise. Anyone receiving one gift is expected to reciprocate with the
equivalent value of the other kind within no more than a year. In this way, the gifts are
continually in motion, travelling from island to island in a cycle that stretches from two to ten
years for any one gift before it returns to its originator.

Gift Giving Creates Imbalance
Hyde comments, “…at the level of each man there will be the sense of imbalance, of shifting
weight, that always marks a gift exchange.”
Take note of that: giving a gift creates a (temporary) imbalance. The giver is without
something, and the recipient has acquired a social obligation (to reciprocate and to move the
gift along).

Imbalance Creates Motion
So the important thing is the motion, and the motion is fueled by temporary loss of
equilibrium.
A human preparing to run actually leans forward, intentionally (though not consciously)
throwing off his balance, which is corrected by putting the first foot forward–as step. The
runner in motion is someone continually falling forward. The lean is the loss of equilibrium;
the step is the “gift” that restores it.
In this way circular giving keeps a flow of new life traveling through the tribe, even among
widely scattered islands in an archipelago.

Kula Giving Is Non-Reciprocal
Kula is non-linear and therefore not really reciprocal. It requires at least three parties (in
reality, of course, many more are involved), and the same gift doesn’t immediately return to
the giver.
Hyde points out that most folk tales involving gifts have at least three people in them,
establishing the minimum for a circle. The circle helps perpetuate dis-equilibrium and motion.
No one ever receives the same gift from the same person.

The Gift Goes "Around a Corner"
I may give arm shells to my neighbor to the west, but I will never get arm shells back from
him. I have to give “blindly” and have “blind gratitude” as well. The gift “goes around a
corner” as it were, before it comes back, and I usually will be unaware of all the connections
it went through before it does return.
When a gift has passed out of sight, it can’t be manipulated by the giver.

Kula: Circulatory System of the Tribe
So the continual cycle of Kula giving creates a circulatory system that reinforces and
strengthens tribal bonds. Keeping Kula means traveling to adjacent islands in order for the
exchange to take place. preventing isolationism. The times of Kula ceremonies are times of
exchanging much more than just the physical gifts: news, information, etc. are exchanged as
well.

Kula Builds Tribes
When experts do Kula, they keep the world moving and build tribes.
Kula is the recognition that what we have is a gift.
And by sharing the Kula of your expertise, you build a tribe that you are a part of. Far off
peoples will benefit from you around the blind corner of the giving, and the whole tribe gets
better because of it. And that means you get better too, for you are part of the tribe.

Your Kula Gift: Your Expertise

Benefit 1: The Tribe Thrives
Expertise passed on becomes a seed leading to new and expanded knowledge, benefiting all.

Benefit 2: Esteem Flows to Giver
The next three benefits can't be manufactured or manipulated by the giver, but to those who
regularly and freely give, they will inevitably come.
The first is the esteem or respect of those associated with the giver.

Benefit 3: Loyalty Flows to the Giver
A generous sharer of expertise will eventually attract a following who are willing and happy to
recommend them and lend support when needed.

Benefit 4: Authority Flows to the Giver
Authority is the right to lead. It is the establishment of a voice worth being heard. The giver
of expertise earns and establishes authority.
(For a fuller treatment of this topic, see my post at http://bit.ly/XjbFpG)

Circle of Giving: Why Give Away Your Expertise?

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