Pamela Beck
At its best, I appreciate how Nonviolent Communication can serve as a bridge, supporting one's navigating the personal as political (interior work amidst a broader civic context) as well as a kind of daily, mindfulness practice (grounded in a language-oriented spirituality).
If you're interested in NVC resources, then you might want to check out my website: streetgiraffes.com (here's CNVC commenting, via Facebook, as to this other blog: CNVC: "Celebrating a very full NVC website").
As to me, personally, I first encountered Nonviolent Communication while perusing a Tricycle magazine article, vividly written by Katy Butler, detailing her discovery of NVC as a worthy complement to the Buddhist discipline of "right speech".
Despite the initial intrigue, my "street giraffe" path has been a bit unorthodox and unfolded rather gradually (a bit road less taken -- e.g. improvisational OFNR as an NVC practice and so forth).
I conceive of this path, at least in part, as an exploration of how to "mediate one's life" -- i.e. navigate intra/interpersonal dynamics -- with universal human needs as a common denominator.
Along these lines, I offer a couple of options to learn more about NVC:
1) I facilitate a free, monthly sangha/telepractice-group &
2) I also offer @mediateoneslife -- re: NVC Mediation -- consultations, aspiring to support dialogue (both within ourselves and with others).
A bit more as to my path: Street Giraffe | about.me
Follow me on Twitter (s'il vous plait): @StreetGiraffe
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." ~ George Bernard Shaw
"Street Giraffe" defined:
“This means prioritizing the consciousness over the form…” ~ Miki Kashtan
More here: About | Street Giraffe & Origin Story of Jackal/Giraffe
1) NVC blog & telepractice:
- OFNR
- Naturalizing
- Streetify
- Phrasing Needs
- Connection-Requests
- Edge/Strength
- Toolbox
- Joining the Call
"Every time I mess up is a chance to practice."
~ Marshall Rosenberg
2) & NVC Mediation (consultations):
“The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well of being heard.”
~ William Hazlitt
Origin Story of Jackal/Giraffe
About | Street Giraffes (resource-intensive blog):
- Handy Handouts
- Approaches to NVC
- NVC Consciousness
- Focusing & Inner Relationship Focusing
- Journaling
- Jackal/Giraffe Ears
- Living-Energy of Needs
- PLATO
- Spiritual Basis of NVC
- Politics & NVC
Connect via Social Media:
Additional Resources:
I've found that Nonviolent Communication supports the capacity -- not always realized consistently, of course -- towards embodying perennial theme(s) such as... *to thine own self be true" & "love thy neighbor as thyself."
"One of the reasons why the conditioning to be inauthentic is in place is because of the widespread perception that truth and care are incompatible. I challenge that assumption deeply, and have come to believe that any truth can be combined with sufficient care to maintain connection while delivering it..." ~ Miki Kashtan Ph.D.
An NVC practice most often occurs, at least in my experience, as a kind of working hypothesis or ongoing exploration of how to #MediateOnesLife -- both truth & care -- by way of the Universal Human Needs/Values that we all hold in common, whether as a practitioner myself or while conveying #NVCpractices to others (e.g. such as a cornerstone of #NVCconsciousness: Wanting Fully Without Attachment).
"...Because of this particular challenge, I see wanting without attachment as a deep spiritual practice. I am still learning, and will probably continue to learn." ~ Miki Kashtan via Why Wanting Matters | The Fearless Heart
Another example of NVC as a kind of field scientist's experiment -- noticing our "choice-points" -- as to When to Speak and When to Listen (via Oren Jay Sofer)
"In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.” ~ Louis Pasteur
"Never question the beauty of what you are saying because someone reacts with pain, judgement, criticism. It just means they have not heard you." ~ Marshall Rosenberg
“Always listen to what people need rather than what they are thinking about us.” ~ Marshall Rosenberg
(For more visit linktr.ee/streetgiraffes)
To illumine a more in depth understanding of our inter-relatedness through collaborative dialogue.
"I developed NVC as a way to train my attention -- to shine the light of consciousness -- on places that have the potential to yield what I am seeking." ~ Marshall B. Rosenberg
"NVC is an awareness discipline masquerading as a communication process." ~ Kit Miller
Discovery of universal human values, as an interwoven garment, at the root of our (inescapable) interdependence -- most especially at this crossroads in our civilizational history
(FYI ~ see a cache of climate related blog posts here.)
#MediateOnesCivicLife #EcologicalCrisis #415ppm
Several quotes (amidst our Anthropocene backdrop)
Marshall Rosenberg, Originator of Nonviolent_Communication:
"Our survival as a species depends on our ability to recognize that our well-being & the well-being of others are in fact one & the same."
"If I use Nonviolent Communication to liberate people to be less depressed, to get along better with their family, but do not teach them at the same time to use their energy to rapidly transform systems in the world, then I am part of the problem. I am essentially calming people down, making them happier to live in the systems as they are, so I'm using NVC as a narcotic."
“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny… This is the inter-related structure of reality.”
"We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today."